bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genome sequence of Bovine Ephemeral fever virus vaccine strain of South African origin
Authors: Mlingo Tendai A. M. , Nthangeni Bethuel M. , Mokoena Nobalanda B.
Published: May 2021

Bovine Ephemeral fever virus (BEFV) is endemic in South Africa and has a negative economic impact on the meat and dairy industries. Bovine ephemeral fever or three‐day stiff‐sickness is controlled through annual vaccination with a live attenuated virus manufactured by Onderstepoort Biological Products (South Africa). We announce the genome sequences of two South African Bovine Ephemeral Virus strains; the live attenuated vaccine strain (14 876 nucleotides) and a field strain (14 883 nucleotides). A mutation in the alpha 3 open reading frame rendered the gene non‐functional in both genomes. Phylogenetic analysis based on the glycoprotein gene showed that the two strains clustered with the South African lineage.
Hydrological Dynamics Assessment of Basin Upstream–Downstream Linkages Under Seasonal Climate Variability
Authors: Amoo Oseni Taiwo , Ojugbele Hammed Olabode , Abayomi Abdultaofeek , Singh Pushpendra Kumar
Published: May 2021

The impacts of climate change are already being felt, not only in terms of increase in temperature but also in respect of inadequate water availability. The Mkomazi River Basins (MRB) of the KwaZulu-Natal region, South Africa serves as major source of water and thus a mainstay of livelihood for millions of people living downstream. It is in this context that the study investigates water flows abstraction from headwaters to floodplains and how the water resources are been impacted by seasonal climate variability. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) pattern classifier was utilized for the seasonal classification and subsequence hydrological flow regime prediction between the upstream–downstream anomalies. The ANN input hydroclimatic data analysis results covering the period 2008–2015 provides a likelihood forecast of high, near-median, or low streamflow. The results show that monthly mean water yield range is 28.6–36.0 m3/s over the Basin with a coefficient of correlation (CC) values of 0.75 at the validation stage. The yearly flow regime exhibits considerable changes with different magnitudes and patterns of increase and decrease in the climatic variables. No doubt, added activities and processes such as land-use change and managerial policies in upstream areas affect the spatial and temporal distribution of available water resources to downstream regions. The study has evolved an artificial neuron system thinking from conjunctive streamflow prediction toward sustainable water allocation planning for medium- and long-term purposes.
Maize, Cassava, and Sweet Potato Yield on Monthly Climate in Malawi
Authors: Kawaye Floney P. , Hutchinson Michael F.
Published: May 2021

Climate change and climate variability in Malawi have negatively affected the production of maize, a staple food crop. This has adversely affected food security. On the other hand, there have been increases in growing area, production, yield, consumption, and commercialization of both cassava and sweet potato. Factors behind these increases include the adaptive capacity of these crops in relation to climate change and variability, structural adjustment programs, population growth and urbanization, new farming technologies, and economic development. Cassava and sweet potato are seen to have the potential to contribute to food security and alleviate poverty among rural communities.

This study used a simple generic growth index model called GROWEST to model observed yields of maize, cassava, and sweet potato across Malawi between 2001 and 2012. The method can be viewed as a hybrid approach between complex process-based crop models and typical statistical models. For each food crop, the GROWEST model was able to provide a robust correlation between observed yields and spatially interpolated monthly climate. The model parameters, which included optimum growing temperatures and growing seasons, were well determined and agreed with known values. This indicated that these models could be used with reasonable confidence to project the impacts of climate change on crop yield. These projections could help assess the future of food security in Malawi under the changing climate and assist in planning for this future.
Rethinking Climate-Smart Agriculture Adoption for Resilience-Building Among Smallholder Farmers: Gender-Sensitive Adoption Framework
Authors: Khoza Sizwile , van Niekerk Dewald , Nemakonde Livhuwani
Published: May 2021

This study identifies the need for holistic understanding of gender-differentiated climate-smart agriculture (CSA) adoption by smallholder farmers who are at the frontline of climate-related hazards and disasters in Africa. CSA adoption is predominantly informed by a parochial linear approach to farmers’ decision-making processes. Resilience-building and adaptation, which forms the second pillar of CSA and can enhance understanding of the CSA adoption nuances at farmer level, often receives less attention in adoption investigations. To appreciate CSA adoption from a resilience perspective, this study focused on resilience-building based on the interlinkage between CSA and disaster risk reduction and applied a resilience perspective in a gendered approach to CSA adoption by smallholder farmers. Through primary data collected in an exploratory sequential mixed method design, the study presents a proposed normative gender-sensitive CSA adoption framework to guide CSA implementation strategies and policies. The framework is anchored in resilience thinking, and some of its key components include gender-sensitive CSA technology development, risk-informed decision-making by heterogeneous smallholder farmers, gender-sensitive enabling factors, resilience strategies, gender equitable and equal ownership, and control of and access to resilience capitals. The proposed framework can be used to improve CSA adoption by smallholder farmers by addressing gendered vulnerability and inequality that influence low adoption.
Mainstreaming Climate Adaptation in Mozambican Urban Water, Sanitation, and Drainage Sector
Authors: Muradás Pedro , Puig María , Ruiz Óscar , Solé Josep María
Published: May 2021

The Capacity Development Programme (CDP) is an agreement between the Government of Mozambique and the Nordic Development Fund, to tackle climate variability by planning and the sustainable operations and maintenance of sanitation and drainage infrastructure. The Mozambican Administration of Water and Sanitation Infrastructure (AIAS) is the agency responsible for this project. The international consortium in charge of developing the CDP provided consultancy services to AIAS and the vulnerable cities of Beira and Matola. The assignment included not only capacity building but also institutional strengthening activities, as well as specific studies, mainly based on climate modelling (dynamic downscaling) and mapping exercises. Important results and conclusions were achieved, and further adaptation strategies to increase the resilience of the Mozambican urban water, sanitation, and drainage sector were proposed.
Thermodynamic Environment During the 2009 Burkina Faso and 2012 Nigeria Flood Disasters: Case Study
Authors: Balogun R. Ayodeji , Adefisan E. Adesanya , Adeyewa Z. Debo , Okogbue E. Chilekwu
Published: May 2021

Critical or extreme atmospheric conditions which could result in flood disasters are important output for numerical weather forecast. This research applied thermodynamic variables to investigate the environment of two flood scenarios in West Africa as captured by the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite. Results from the two case studies of flood events, in (i) Burkina Faso and (ii) Nigeria savannah, investigated in this research work, indicated that the September 1st 2009 flood, which was as a result of a single volumetric rainfall event of 408,070.60 ((mm/h)*km2) with 65% convective region in Burkina Faso, was initiated by interactions between extremely large lower tropospheric wind shear and cold pool dynamics. The case of the Nigeria savannah floods between July and September, 2012, was triggered by both continuous rainfall and release of water from the lagdo dam in Cameroon, which affected most of the communities in the river Benue axis. The continuous rainfalls were found to be as a result of extremely high convergence of moisture in the river Benue axis at different locations and periods. One of such rainfall events, as captured by TRMM satellite during September 29, 2012 in the Nigeria rainforest zone, indicated that the volumetric rainfall is 351,310.9 ((mm/h)*km2) with only 34% convective portion. From these results, it can be deduced that a combination of thermodynamic environmental variables, volume rainfall, and other satellite-derived convective parameters could provide important information for flood forecasting.
Unlocking Climate Finance Potential for Climate Adaptation: Case of Climate Smart Agricultural Financing in Sub Saharan Africa
Authors: Mungai Edward M. , Ndiritu S. Wagura , da Silva Izael
Published: May 2021

Climate change has emerged as one of the greatest challenges faced by the world today. Adverse impacts of climate change are visible across sectors like agriculture and other natural resources due to increasing average temperature and changing weather patterns. Africa constitutes around 13% of the global population but contributes the least (around 2%) to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. Concerning the global climate vulnerability index, Africa is most impacted (around 21%) by climate change and its’ population is most vulnerable to climate sensitivity and fragility of the continent’s natural environment and increasingly erratic weather patterns, low adoption of climate-resilient technologies, and high dependence on environment-based livelihoods. Hence, Africa needs to adopt low carbon and climate-resilient development to address climate-related issues and to have sustainable development. In line with the low carbon/climate-resilient development agenda, 53 countries (except Libya) have submitted Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and have set ambitious targets under NDC and Sustainable Development Goals. A quick analysis of the NDCs and various studies indicates the enormity of the financing needs. According to Climate Invetsment Funds (CFI), Sub-Saharan Africa will require an estimated USD222 billion for climate resilience investments to reach its NDCs. One of the critical stakeholders to play a key role in meeting the financing needs of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) related targets is the private sector. There is around 98% gap in financing for CSA. Even though substantial climate finance potential exists in selected countries for the private sector, there are certain challenges and barriers like financial, policy, lack of awareness, and low provision for climate funding in the national budget.
Climate Change and Variability on Food Security of Rural Household: Central Highlands, Ethiopia
Authors: Tesfaye Argaw , Alemayehu Arragaw
Published: May 2021

This chapter analyzes the impact of climate change and variability on food security of rural households in the central highlands of Ethiopia taking Basona Werana district as a case study site. Data were obtained from 123 households selected using simple random sampling from three agro ecological zones. Key informant interviews and focus group discussion (FDG) were used to supplement the data obtained from household survey. The monthly rainfall and temperature data are for 56 points of 10 × 10 km grids reconstructed from weather stations and meteorological satellite observations, which cover the period between 1983 and 2016. Standardized rainfall anomaly (SRA), linear regression (LR), and coefficient of variation (CV) are used to examine inter-annual and intra-annual variability of rainfall. Annual and seasonal rainfalls show decreasing trends over the period of observation. The decreasing trends in annual and March–May (Belg) rainfall totals exhibit statically significant decreasing trends at p = 0.05 level. Kiremt (June–September) shows statically significant decreasing trends at p = 0.1 level. Mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures show statically significant increasing trends at p = 0.05 level. More than 80% of households perceived that the climate is changing and their livelihoods (crop and livestock production) are impacted. The district belongs to one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change and variability in the country where large proportions of households (62%) are under different food insecurity classes. Results suggest that local level investigations are useful in developing context-specific climate change adaptation.
African Yam Bean the Choice for Climate Change Resilience: Need for Conservation and Policy
Authors: Nnamani C. V. , Adewale D. B. , Oselebe H. O. , Atkinson C. J.
Published: May 2021

Global warming has emerged as a major challenge to development and human wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. Periodic incidents show that this challenge will continue and increase in impact on all aspects of natural resources – agriculture, ecosystems services, biodiversity depletion, environmental degradation and human health. Recognizing the enormous potential of underutilized plant genetic resources (PGRs) is crucial as sources of solutions to a number of these threatening challenges emanating from climate change (food and nutrition insecurity, genetic erosion, loss of agro-biodiversity, green job growth and income generation) cannot be over-emphasized. Sphenostylis stenocarpa (Hochst. ex. A. Rich) Harms., commonly known as African yam bean (AYB) belonging to the leguminous Fabaceae, is an underutilized PGR with rich portfolio which could serve as vital source of robust adaption and resilient germplasm for vulnerable local communities in Nigeria. Its substantial nutritional, environmental, cultural, social, medicinal, industrial and soil restorative potentials underpins its position as climate – smart species. Enhancing the potentials of African yam bean via robust innovative approaches for wider utilization through accelerated research, farmer seed exchanges, in-situ and ex-situ conservations, farmers selection, and policy programs such as seed sovereignty will accentuate its adaptation and used as resilient climate –smart species  for the vulnerable groups in Nigeria to cushion impact of climate change.
Food Security Concerns, Climate Change, and Sea Level Rise in Coastal Cameroon
Authors: Abia Wilfred A. , Onya Comfort A. , Shum Conalius E. , Amba Williette E. , Niba Kareen L. , Abia Eucharia A.
Published: May 2021

Food security is a major public health priority in Cameroon, amidst climate change and sea level rise (CC/SLR), vis-à-vis the ever-increasing population growth with associated challenges. CC/SLR, singly or combine, is well known to have severe impacts on agricultural productivity, food security, socioeconomic activities and ecosystem (environment, plant and animal) health systems in coastal areas. They contribute to natural disasters including erosion, flooding, inundation of coastal lowlands, and saltwater intrusion, altogether reducing agricultural productivity. Additionally, these disasters provoke adverse animal, human, and environmental health implications; reduction in tourism; and potential close of some socioeconomic activities that constitute secondary (after agriculture), or main source of livelihood/income for many coastal indigents. Although there are inadequate reports on the impacts of CC/SLR, preliminary reports point to negative effects on crop production and socioeconomic activities in coastal Cameroon. This chapter highlights the susceptibility of coastal Cameroon agriculture and socioeconomic activities to CC/SLR. Furthermore, it has propose agricultural (CC/SLR and non-climatic) and educational intervention socioeconomic strategies for the mitigation and adaptation to CC/SLR and for sustainable agricultural productivity in coastal Cameroon. The proposed strategies may provide a small contribution toward a wider multi-stakeholder pool of strategies and which, when applied, may enhance food security in coastal Cameroon amidst CC/SLR and promote socioeconomic and touristic activities while reducing negative implications on animal, plant, human, and environmental health.
Sustaining a Cleaner Environment by Curbing Down Biomass Energy Consumption
Authors: Danlami Abubakar Hamid , Applanaidu Shri Dewi
Published: May 2021

Environmental degradation, soil erosion, and desertification are some of the consequences of high rate of traditional biomass fuel use by households in developing countries. The critical issues to raise here are how can these households be encouraged to change their energy consumption behavior? What are the factors that cause the rampant use of biomass fuel in developing countries? How and to what extent can these factors be manipulated so that households in developing countries are encouraged to adopt clean energy fuel an alternative to the most widely used biomass fuel? Therefore, this chapter tries to find answer to the above questions raised, by carrying out an in depth analysis of households’ use of biomass fuel in developing countries using Bauchi State, Nigeria, as the case study. Cluster area sampling technique was utilized to generate the various responses, where a total number of 539 respondents were analyzed. The study estimated ordered logit model to analyze the factors that influence the movement of households along the energy ladder from nonclean energy to the cleaner energy. Furthermore, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model was estimated to analyze the impacts of socio-economic, residential, and environmental factors on biomass energy consumption. It was found that age of the household head and his level of education, income, living in urban areas, home ownership, and hours of electricity supply have positive and significant impact on household energy switching from traditional biomass energy use to the cleaner energy. Therefore, policies that will enhance household income and the increase in the availability of cheap cleaner energy will encourage households switching to cleaner energy sources thereby reducing the level of environmental pollution in the study area.
Dual Pathway Model of Responses Between Climate Change and Livestock Production
Authors: Iyiola-Tunji Adetunji Oroye , Adamu James Ijampy , John Paul Apagu , Muniru Idris
Published: May 2021

This chapter was aimed at evaluating the responses of livestock to fluctuations in climate and the debilitating effect of livestock production on the environment. Survey of livestock stakeholders (farmers, researchers, marketers, and traders) was carried out in Sahel, Sudan, Northern Guinea Savannah, Southern Guinea Savannah, and Derived Savannah zones of Nigeria. In total, 362 respondents were interviewed between April and June 2020. The distribution of the respondents was 22 in Sahel, 57 in Sudan, 61 in Northern Guinea Savannah, 80 in Southern Guinea Savannah, and 106 in Derived Savannah. The respondents were purposively interviewed based on their engagement in livestock production, research or trading activities. Thirty-eight years’ climate data from 1982 to 2019 were obtained from Nigerian Metrological Agency, Abuja. Ilela, Kiyawa, and Sabon Gari were chosen to represent Sahel, Sudan, and Northern Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria, respectively. The data contained precipitation, relative humidity, and minimum and maximum temperature. The temperature humidity index (THI) was calculated using the formula: THI = 0.8*T + RH*(T-14.4) + 46.4, where T = ambient or dry-bulb temperature in °C and RH=relative humidity expressed as a proportion. Three Machine Learning model were built to predict the monthly minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and relative humidity respectively based on information from the previous 11 months. The methodology adopted is to treat each prediction task as a supervised learning problem. This involves transforming the time series data into a feature-target dataset using autoregressive (AR) technique. The major component of the activities of livestock that was known to cause injury to the environment as depicted in this chapter was the production of greenhouse gases. From the respondents in this chapter, some adaptive measures were stated as having controlling and mitigating effect at reducing the effect of activities of livestock on the climate and the environment. The environment and climate on the other side of the dual pathway is also known to induce stress on livestock. The concept of crop-livestock integration system is advocated in this chapter as beneficial to livestock and environment in the short and long run. Based on the predictive model developed for temperature and relative humidity in a sample location (Ilela) using Machine Learning in this chapter, there is need for development of a web or standalone application that will be useable by Nigerian farmers, meteorological agencies, and extension organizations as climate fluctuation early warning system. Development of this predictive model needs to be expanded and made functional.
Greenhouse Gases Emissions in Agricultural Systems and Climate Change Effects in Sub- Saharan Africa
Authors: Ntinyari Winnie , Gweyi-Onyango Joseph P.
Published: May 2021

Climate change has been viewed to result from anthropogenic human activities that have significantly altered the Nitrogen (N) cycle and carbon cycles, increasing the risks of global warming and pollution. A key cause of global warming is the increase in greenhouse gas emissions including methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon among others. The context of this chapter is based on a comprehensive desktop review on published scientific papers on climate change, greenhouse emissions, agricultural fertilizer use, modeling and projections of greenhouse gases emissions. Interestingly, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the least emissions of the greenhouses gases accounting for only 7% of the total world’s emissions, implying that there is overall very little contribution yet it has the highest regional burden concerning climate change impacts. However, the values could be extremely higher than this due to lack of proper estimation and measurement tools in the region and therefore, caution needs to be taken early enough to avoid taking the trend currently experienced in developed nations. In SSA, agricultural production is the leading sector in emissions of N compound to the atmosphere followed by energy and transportation. The greatest challenge lies in the management of the two systems to ensure sufficiency in food production using more bioenergy hence less pollution. Integrating livestock and cropping systems is one strategy that can reduce methane emissions. Additionally, developing fertilizer use policy to improve management of fertilizer and organic manure have been potentially considered as effective in reducing the effects of agriculture activities on climate change and hence the main focus of the current chapter.
Equity and Justice in Climate Change Adaptation: Policy and Practical Implication in Nigeria
Authors: Oramah Chinwe Philomina , Olsen Odd Einar
Published: May 2021

Over the past decade, justice and equity have become a quasi-universal answer to problems of environmental governance. The principles of justice and equity emerged as a useful entry point in global governance to explore the responsibilities, distribution, and procedures required for just climate change adaptation. These principles are designed primarily through the establishment of funding mechanisms, top-down guides, and frameworks for adaptation, and other adaptation instruments from the UNFCCC process, to ensure effective adaptation for vulnerable countries like Nigeria that have contributed least to the issue of climate change but lack adaptive capacity. Global adaptation instruments have been acknowledged for adaptation in Nigeria. Climate change has a detrimental impact on Nigeria as a nation, with the burden falling disproportionately on the local government areas. As Nigeria develop national plans and policies to adapt to the consequences of climate change, these plans will have significant consequences for local government areas where adaptation practices occur. Although the local government’s adaptation burden raises the prospects for justice and equity, its policy and practical implication remains less explored. This chapter explores the principles of justice and equity in national adaptation policy and adaptation practices in eight local government areas in southeast Nigeria. The chapter argues that some factors make it challenging to achieve equity and justice in local adaptation practices. With the use of a qualitative approach (interview (n = 52), observation, and document analysis), this chapter identified some of the factors that constraints equity and justice in local government adaptation in southeast Nigeria.
Retracing Economic Impact of Climate Change Disasters in Africa: Case Study of Drought Episodes and Adaptation in Kenya
Authors: Nthambi Mary , Ijioma Uche Dickson
Published: May 2021

Valuation studies have shown that drought occurrences have more severe economic impact compared to other natural disasters such as floods. In Kenya, drought has presented complex negative effects on farming communities. The main objective of this chapter is to analyze the economic impacts of drought and identify appropriate climate change adaptation measures in Kenya. To achieve this objective, an empirical approach, combined with secondary data mined from World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal and FAOSTAT databases, has been used in three main steps. First, historical links between population size and land degradation, temperature and rainfall changes with drought events were established. Second, economic impacts of drought on selected economic indicators such as quantities of staple food crop, average food value production, number of undernourished people, gross domestic product, agriculture value added growth, and renewable water resources per annum in Kenya were evaluated. Third, different climate change adaptation measures among farmers in Makueni county were identified using focused group discussions and in-depth interviews, for which the use of bottom-up approach was used to elicit responses. Findings from the binary logistic regression model show a statistical relationship between drought events and a selected set of economic indicators. More specifically, drought events have led to increased use of pesticides, reduced access to credit for agriculture and the annual growth of gross domestic product. One of the main recommendations of this chapter is to involve farmers in designing and implementing community-based climate change adaptation measures, with support from other relevant stakeholders.
Bioeconomy as Climate Action: How Ready Are African Countries?
Authors: Oguntuase Oluwaseun James , Adu Oluwatosin Benedict
Published: May 2021

Bioeconomy is a new perspective for fighting climate change. Africa is warming faster than the global average, and climate change remains a major threat on the continent for coming decades. The development of sustainable bioeconomy is extremely important in Africa to accelerate mitigation and adaptation to climate change. However, this concept is not well diffused on the continent. The objective of this chapter is to present the current state of bioeconomy in Africa and the readiness of the member countries to adopt bioeconomy as climate action, with particular attention to the state of production determinants of a bioeconomy. The main factors and trends (both positive and negative), relating to building strategic capacity towards employing bioeconomy for climate action on the continent, are outlined. The findings and recommendations will assist both the academia and policymakers in Africa to integrate bioeconomy into their national and regional climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and action plans.
Sustainable Climate Change Adaptation in Developing Countries: Role of Perception Among Rural Households
Authors: Fasina Oluwatosin Oluwasegun , Okogbue Emmanuel Chilekwu , Ishola Oluwatosin Omowunmi , Adeeko Abiodun
Published: May 2021

Climate change adaptation entails exploiting not only economically but also environmentally beneficial strategies by all stakeholders. However, the successful implementation of adaptation actions is also subject to the perception of climate change, usually influenced by knowledge, experiences, and sociocultural factors including gender relations, among the target group. This chapter analyzes the perception of climate change among rural households in Southwest Nigeria and ascertains the coping and adaptation strategies in use among the households. A total of 239 respondents were interviewed across the vegetative zones available in the study area. Findings revealed that 54.8% were involved in crop farming. About 51.0% and 45.6% practiced change in sowing date and harvest date, respectively. Respondents’ perception had a significant relationship with adaptation measures such as change in harvest date (χ2 = 56.753, p = 0.026), planting improved varieties (χ2 = 55.866, p = 0.031), and mixed cropping (χ2 = 55.433, p = 0.042). Respondents had a favorable perception of climate change. The study concluded that although their perception of climate change was favorable and indicated their understanding of its negative effects on their livelihoods, it did not take cognizance of women’s insecure access to production resources. It recommended the development of easily accessible weather forecasts to aid livelihood decisions and enlightenment on improved women’s access to production resources and biodiversity protection.
Impact of Moisture Flux and Vertical Wind Shear on Forecasting Extreme Rainfall Events in Nigeria
Authors: Olaniyan Olumide A. , Ajayi Vincent O. , Lawal Kamoru A. , Akeh Ugbah Paul
Published: May 2021

This chapter investigates extreme rainfall events that caused flood during summer months of June–September 2010–2014. The aim is to determine the impact of horizontal moisture flux divergence (HMFD) and vertical wind shear on forecasting extreme rainfall events over Nigeria. Wind divergence and convective available potential energy (CAPE) were also examined to ascertain their threshold values during the events. The data used include rainfall observation from 40 synoptic stations across Nigeria, reanalyzed datasets from ECMWF at 0.125° × 0.125° resolution and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) dataset at resolution of 0.25° × 0.25°. The ECMWF datasets for the selected days were employed to derive the moisture flux divergence, wind shear, and wind convergence. The derived meteorological parameters and the CAPE were spatially analyzed and superimposed on the precipitation obtained from the satellite data. The mean moisture flux and CAPE for some northern Nigerian stations were also plotted for 3 days prior to and 3 days after the storm. The result showed that HMFD and CAPE increased few days before the storm and peak on the day of the storms, and then declined afterwards. HMFD values above 1.0 × 10−6 g kg−1 s−1 is capable of producing substantial amount of rainfall mostly above 50 mm while wind shear has a much weaker impact on higher rainfall amount than moisture availability. CAPE above 1000 Jkg−1 and 1500 Jk−1 are favorable for convection over the southern and northern Nigeria, respectively. The study recommends quantitative analysis of moisture flux as a valuable short-term severe storm predictor and should be considered in the prediction of extreme rainfall.
Different Tumor Microenvironments Lead to Different Metabolic Phenotypes
Authors: Antonio Marjorie Justine , Zhang Cissy , Le Anne
Published: May 2021

The beginning of the twenty-first century offered new advances in cancer research, including new knowledge about the tumor microenvironment (TME). Because TMEs provide the niches in which cancer cells, fibroblasts, lymphocytes, and immune cells reside, they play a crucial role in cancer cell development, differentiation, survival, and proliferation. Throughout cancer progression, the TME constantly evolves, causing cancer cells to adapt to the new conditions. The heterogeneity of cancer, evidenced by diverse proliferation rates, cellular structures, metabolisms, and gene expressions, presents challenges for cancer treatment despite the advances in research. This chapter discusses how different TMEs lead to specific metabolic adaptations that drive cancer progression.
Metabolism of Immune Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment
Authors: Jung Jin G. , Le Anne
Published: May 2021

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex biological structure surrounding tumor cells and includes blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, adipocytes, and extracellular matrix (ECM) [1, 2]. These heterogeneous surrounding structures provide nutrients, metabolites, and signaling molecules to provide a cancer-friendly environment. The metabolic interplay between immune cells and cancer cells in the TME is a key feature not only for understanding tumor biology but also for discovering cancer cells’ vulnerability. As cancer immunotherapy to treat cancer patients and the use of metabolomics technologies become more and more common [3], the importance of the interplay between cancer cells and immune cells in the TME is emerging with respect to not only cell-to-cell interactions but also metabolic pathways. This interaction between immune cells and cancer cells is a complex and dynamic process in which immune cells act as a determinant factor of cancer cells’ fate and vice versa. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the metabolic interplay between immune cells and cancer cells and discuss the therapeutic opportunities as a result of this interplay in order to define targets for cancer treatment. It is important to understand and identify therapeutic targets that interrupt this cancerpromoting relationship between cancer cells and the surrounding immune cells, allowing for maximum efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors as well as other genetic and cellular therapies.
The Heterogeneity Metabolism of Renal Cell Carcinomas
Authors: Zarisfi Mohammadreza , Nguyen Tu , Nedrow Jessie R. , Le Anne
Published: May 2021

According to data from the American Cancer Society, cancer is one of the deadliest health problems globally. Annually, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) causes more than 100,000 deaths worldwide [1–4], posing an urgent need to develop effective treatments to increase patient survival outcomes. New therapies are expected to address a major factor contributing to cancer’s resistance to standard therapies: oncogenic heterogeneity. Gene expression can vary tremendously among different types of cancers, different patients of the same tumor type, and even within individual tumors; various metabolic phenotypes can emerge, making singletherapy approaches insufficient. Novel strategies targeting the diverse metabolism of cancers aim to overcome this obstacle. Though some have yielded positive results, it remains a challenge to uncover all of the distinct metabolic profiles of RCC. In the quest to overcome this obstacle, the metabolic oriented research focusing on these cancers has offered freshly new perspectives, which are expected to contribute heavily to the development of new treatments.
The Heterogeneity of Liver Cancer Metabolism
Authors: Salazar Javier , Le Anne
Published: May 2021

Primary liver cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death around the world. Histologically, it can be divided into two major groups, hepatocellular carcinoma (75% of all liver cancer) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (15% of all liver cancer) [1, 2]. Primary liver cancer usually happens in liver disease or cirrhosis patients [1], and the risk factors for developing HCC depend on the etiology [3] and the country of provenance [1]. There is an urgent need for an accurate diagnostic test given the high proportion of false positives and false negatives for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a common HCC biomarker [4]. Due to often being diagnosed in advanced stages, HCCrelated deaths per year have doubled since 1999 [3]. With the use of metabolomics technologies [5], the aberrant metabolism characteristics of cancer tissues can be discovered and exploited for the new biomarkers and new therapies to treat HCC [6, 7].
Fiction Film and History
Authors: Greiner Rasmus
Published: May 2021

As well as taking stock of the existing literature on film and history, this chapter aims to develop a terminological apparatus for describing the conceptual core of the historical film. The first section makes reference to a classicsemiological modelaccording to which a film’s production of meaning is determined by its specific arrangement of signs. It draws parallels to debates within historical studies that have enabled a reassessment of fiction film as a historiographical medium and mode of conceptualizing history. Building on these considerations, the second section posits a genre of popular fiction film defined by its referential relation to historical events, individuals, and lifeworlds. The third section argues that this is less a matter of incontrovertible factual accuracy than of generating afeeling of authenticity.
Audiovisual History
Authors: Greiner Rasmus
Published: May 2021

The aim of this chapter is to consider relevant theories of visual and audio history whose ontologies a histosphere absorbs and elaborates. The first section surveys the relatively new field of visual history. It argues that a histosphere creates not just disparate images but a visual sphere in which history is brought to life. Research into audio history is an even newer and less developed field. The second section therefore sketches the outlines of an audio history of film and examines the aesthetics and function of film sound, understood as an equally important expressive dimension of histospheres. The two aspects are brought together in the third section: The fusion of sound and vision makes the historical film not just a model of a historical world, but a form of perception in its own right.
Film/History/Experience
Authors: Greiner Rasmus
Published: May 2021

This chapter describes the interactions and intersections between film experience and historical experience. The first section introduces the phenomenological theories underpinning the notion offilm experienceand applies them to the historical film. Focusing on concepts of embodied film perception, it discusses the spectator’s impression of making direct contact with a film’s historical world. This imaginary contact with history bears similarities to Frank R. Ankersmit’s theory ofhistorical experience, which is examined in the second section. The interconnections between Ankersmit’s concept and Vivian Sobchack’s phenomenological theory of film experience are considered in greater depth in the third section. The aim is to develop a concept of histospheres in which sensuous and cognitive perceptions are fused into a unifiedcinematic experienceof history.
Modeling and Perceiving
Authors: Greiner Rasmus
Published: May 2021

The aim of this chapter is to develop a theory of how filmic figurations are already fused with conceptions of history during the mise-en-scène process, and thereby enable historical experiences. The first section will therefore examine the theoretical concept of figuration and the special relation betweencinematic illusionandhistorical reference. The second section analyzes the strategies used by historical films to create filmic spaces and model an internally consistent, temporally arranged historical world. Building on this, the third section proposes that, for historical films, the film theory concept of mise-en-scène should be supplemented by a concept ofmise-en-histoire: the imaginative referentialization of the historical worlds constructed by a film.
Experience and Remembering
Authors: Greiner Rasmus
Published: May 2021

This chapter shows that forms of experience and memory are not mere effects but constitutive processes of histospheres. Accordingly, the first section explores the complex interrelationship between film, body, and memory. It argues that embodied memories make it possible to experience a film’s historical world as a physical reality, and add a bodily experiential dimension to the mise-en-histoire. Building on these considerations, the second section combines them with theories of media-generated memories: Histospheres draw not just on existing embodied memories and conceptions of history, but are actively involved in producing personal experiences with identity-forging potential. The third section examines the workings of reminiscence triggers, whereby filmic figurations link the film’s historical world to the spectator’s embodied memories and produce a kind of déjà vu effect.
Refiguring Historical Consciousness
Authors: Greiner Rasmus
Published: May 2021

By way of conclusion, this chapter examines the relationship between historical films and theories of historical culture. At the heart of its discussion is the thesis that appropriation of histospheres in spectators’ reception has a refigurative effect on our historical consciousness. On this view, the historical experiences generated by films augment the conceptions of history we have acquired from written accounts and sources with a physical-sensory dimension. Consequently, this chapter argues that two new forms of remembering make a substantial contribution to transforming our historical culture: The reminiscence triggers integrated in the audiovisual design of a historical film prompt spontaneous or “unbidden” memories that come to us contingently and are essentially receptive. The mise-en-histoire’s referentialization, by contrast, is a productive act of remembering.
Introduction
Authors: Chen Chung-Chi , Huang Hen-Hsen , Chen Hsin-Hsi
Published: May 2021

Financial opinion mining is a branch of traditional opinion mining and sentiment analysis which shares the basic notions of traditional approaches and adds its own domain-specific characteristics. In Sect. 1.1, we start with a common definition of general opinion mining after which we briefly overview traditional research directions.
Numerals in Financial Narratives
Authors: Chen Chung-Chi , Huang Hen-Hsen , Chen Hsin-Hsi
Published: May 2021

Numerals are more common in financial narratives than in documents from other domains, which makes understanding numerals very important when analyzing financial documents. In this chapter, we summarize our work on numerals in financial narratives and share findings from the FinNum shared task series in the 14th and 15th NTCIR Conferences. In Sect. 5.1, we discuss how to understand the meaning of a given numeral, and in Sect. 5.2, we discuss numeral attachment, where we link numerals and named entities. In Sect. 5.3, we show experimental results from downstream tasks that demonstrate the importance of numeral understanding in financial narratives. We conclude by proposing future research directions in Sect. 5.4.
Perspectives and Conclusion
Authors: Chen Chung-Chi , Huang Hen-Hsen , Chen Hsin-Hsi
Published: May 2021

In this book, we started by describing the components of financial opinions as well as opinion sources in the financial domain. Then, we surveyed options for modeling financial opinions, and discussed in detail one fundamental characteristic of financial narratives: numerals. We also listed numerous applications and research directions. We have thus described financial opinion mining and have provided essential examples to illustrate various concepts. In this final chapter, we organize future directions and summarize the ideas in the book.
Bottomonium suppression in an open quantum system using the quantum trajectories method
Authors: Brambilla Nora , Escobedo Miguel Ángel , Strickland Michael , Vairo Antonio , Griend Peter Vander , Weber Johannes Heinrich
Published: May 2021

Abstract

We solve the Lindblad equation describing the Brownian motion of a Coulombic heavy quark-antiquark pair in a strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma using the highly efficient Monte Carlo wave-function method. The Lindblad equation has been derived in the framework of pNRQCD and fully accounts for the quantum and non-Abelian nature of the system. The hydrodynamics of the plasma is realistically implemented through a 3+1D dissipative hydrodynamics code. We compute the bottomonium nuclear modification factor and compare with the most recent LHC data. The computation does not rely on any free parameter, as it depends on two transport coefficients that have been evaluated independently in lattice QCD. Our final results, which include late-time feed down of excited states, agree well with the available data from LHC 5.02 TeV PbPb collisions.
Non-relativistic and Carrollian limits of Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity
Authors: Gomis Joaquim , Hidalgo Diego , Salgado-Rebolledo Patricio
Published: May 2021

Abstract

We construct the non-relativistic and Carrollian versions of Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity. In the second order formulation, there are no divergences in the non-relativistic and Carrollian limits. Instead, in the first order formalism, some divergences can be avoided by starting from a relativistic BF theory with (A)dS2 × ℝ gauge algebra. We show how to define the boundary duals of the gravity actions using the method of non-linear realisations and suitable Inverse Higgs constraints. In particular, the non-relativistic version of the Schwarzian action is constructed in this way. We derive the asymptotic symmetries of the theory, as well as the corresponding conserved charges and Newton-Cartan geometric structure. Finally, we show how the same construction applies to the Carrollian case.
Integrability, intertwiners and non-linear algebras in Calogero models
Authors: Carrillo-Morales Francisca , Correa Francisco , Lechtenfeld Olaf
Published: May 2021

Abstract

For the rational quantum Calogero systems of type A1⊕A2, AD3 and BC3, we explicitly present complete sets of independent conserved charges and their nonlinear algebras. Using intertwining (or shift) operators, we include the extra ‘odd’ charges appearing for integral couplings. Formulæ for the energy eigenstates are used to tabulate the low-level wave functions.
Conformal bridge in a cosmic string background
Authors: Inzunza Luis , Plyushchay Mikhail S.
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Hidden symmetries of non-relativistic $$ \mathfrak{so}\left(2,1\right)\cong \mathfrak{sl}\left(2,\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}\right) $$
so

2
1

≅
sl

2
ℝ

invariant systems in a cosmic string background are studied using the conformal bridge transformation. Geometric properties of this background are analogous to those of a conical surface with a deficiency/excess angle encoded in the “geometrical parameter” α, determined by the linear positive/negative mass density of the string. The free particle and the harmonic oscillator on this background are shown to be related by the conformal bridge transformation. To identify the integrals of the free system, we employ a local canonical transformation that relates the model with its planar version. The conformal bridge transformation is then used to map the obtained integrals to those of the harmonic oscillator on the cone. Well-defined classical integrals in both models exist only at α = q/k with q, k = 1, 2, . . ., which for q > 1 are higher-order generators of finite nonlinear algebras. The systems are quantized for arbitrary values of α; however, the well-defined hidden symmetry operators associated with spectral degeneracies only exist when α is an integer, that reveals a quantum anomaly.