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Achieving sustainable development requires the decoupling of natural resource use and environmental pressures from economic growth and improvements in living standards. G7 leaders and others have called for improved resource efficiency, along with inclusive economic growth and deep cuts in global greenhouse emissions. However, the outlooks for and interactions between global natural resource use, resource efficiency, economic growth and greenhouse emissions are not well understood. We use a novel multi-regional modeling framework to develop projections to 2050 under existing trends and three policy scenarios. We find that resource efficiency could provide pro-growth pro-environment policies with global benefits of USD $2.4 trillion in 2050, and ease the politics of shifting towards sustainability. Under existing trends, resource extraction is projected to increase 119% from 2015 to 2050, from 84 to 184 billion tonnes per annum, while greenhouse gas emissions increase 41%, both driven by the value of global economic activity more than doubling. Resource efficiency and greenhouse abatement slow the growth of global resource extraction, so that in 2050 it is up to 28% lower than in existing trends. Resource efficiency reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 15–20% in 2050, with global emissions falling to 63% below 2015 levels when combined with a 2 °C emissions pathway. In contrast to greenhouse abatement, resource efficiency boosts near-term economic growth. These economic gains more than offset the near-term costs of shifting to a 2 °C emissions pathway, resulting in emissions in 2050 well below current levels, slower growth in resource extractions, and faster economic growth.

Achieving sustainable development requires the decoupling of natural resource use and environmental pressures from economic growth and improvements in living standards. G7 leaders and others have called for improved resource efficiency, along with inclusive economic growth and deep cuts in global greenhouse emissions. However, the outlooks for and interactions between global natural resource use, resource efficiency, economic growth and greenhouse emissions are not well understood. We use a novel multi-regional modeling framework to develop projections to 2050 under existing trends and three policy scenarios. We find that resource efficiency could provide pro-growth pro-environment policies with global benefits of USD $2.4 trillion in 2050, and ease the politics of shifting towards sustainability. Under existing trends, resource extraction is projected to increase 119% from 2015 to 2050, from 84 to 184 billion tonnes per annum, while greenhouse gas emissions increase 41%, both driven by the value of global economic activity more than doubling. Resource efficiency and greenhouse abatement slow the growth of global resource extraction, so that in 2050 it is up to 28% lower than in existing trends. Resource efficiency reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 15–20% in 2050, with global emissions falling to 63% below 2015 levels when combined with a 2 °C emissions pathway. In contrast to greenhouse abatement, resource efficiency boosts near-term economic growth. These economic gains more than offset the near-term costs of shifting to a 2 °C emissions pathway, resulting in emissions in 2050 well below current levels, slower growth in resource extractions, and faster economic growth.

This report presents the GIWA assessment of the Caribbean Islands region, an archipelago comprising drainage basins and coastal areas that contain some of the world's most diverse and productive habitats. A variety of human activities are impacting the region's sensitive and unique ecosystems, upon which the population is so dependent for their social well-being and economic survival. Pollution, originating from both land-based sources and marine traffic, is of particular concern, but despite considerable and widespread environmental and socio-economic impacts, there has been a lack of appropriate measures aimed at mitigating this concern. The past and present status and future prospects are discussed, and the transboundary issues of pollution are traced back to their root causes. Policy options are analyzed that aim to address these driving issues in order to significantly improve environmental quality and secure the region's future prosperity

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, emerged in Wuhan, China in the end of 2019, has claimed more than 2600 lives as of 24 February 2020 and posed a huge threat to global public health. The Chinese government has implemented control measures including setting up special hospitals and travel restriction to mitigate the spread. We propose conceptual models for the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan with the consideration of individual behavioural reaction and governmental actions, e.g., holiday extension, travel restriction, hospitalisation and quarantine. We employe the estimates of these two key components from the 1918 influenza pandemic in London, United Kingdom, incorporated zoonotic introductions and the emigration, and then compute future trends and the reporting ratio. The model is concise in structure, and it successfully captures the course of the COVID-19 outbreak, and thus sheds light on understanding the trends of the outbreak. ; Department of Applied Mathematics ; School of Nursing ; 202003 bcwh ; published_final

INTRODUCTION: Exposure to road traffic noise may increase blood pressure and heart rate. It is unclear to what extent exposure to air pollution may influence this relationship. We investigated associations between noise, blood pressure and heart rate, with harmonized data from three European cohorts, while taking into account exposure to air pollution. METHODS: Road traffic noise exposure was assessed using a European noise model based on the Common Noise Assessment Methods in Europe framework (CNOSSOS-EU). Exposure to air pollution was estimated using a European-wide land use regression model. Blood pressure and heart rate were obtained by trained clinical professionals. Pooled cross-sectional analyses of harmonized data were conducted at the individual level and with random-effects meta-analyses. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 88,336 participants, across the three participating cohorts (mean age 47.0 (±13.9) years). Each 10dB(A) increase in noise was associated with a 0.93 (95% CI 0.76;1.11) bpm increase in heart rate, but with a decrease in blood pressure of 0.01 (95% CI -0.24;0.23) mmHg for systolic and 0.38 (95% CI -0.53; -0.24) mmHg for diastolic blood pressure. Adjustments for PM10 or NO2 attenuated the associations, but remained significant for DBP and HR. Results for BP differed by cohort, with negative associations with noise in LifeLines, no significant associations in EPIC-Oxford, and positive associations with noise >60dB(A) in HUNT3. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that road traffic noise may be related to increased heart rate. No consistent evidence for a relation between noise and blood pressure was found. ; The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 261433 (Biobank Standardisation and Harmonization for Research Excellence in the European Union – BioSHaRE-EU). DataSHIELD development has also been partly funded under a strategic award from MRC and Wellcome Trust underpinning the ALSPAC project (Wellcome/MRC strategic award 092731); and the Welsh and Scottish Farr Institutes funded by MRC, BBMRI-LPC (EU FP7, I3 grant). BioSHaRE, and the involved cohorts LifeLines (BRIF 4568) and HUNT3 (BRIF 2365) are engaged in a Bioresource Research Impact Factor (BRIF) policy pilot study, details of which can be found at https://www.bioshare.eu/content/bioresource-impact-factor. The Lifelines Biobank initiative has been made possible by funds from FES (Fonds Economische Structuurversterking), SNN (Samenwerkingsverband Noord Nederland) and REP (Ruimtelijk Economisch Programma). LifeLines is a facility that is open for all researchers. Information on application and data access procedure is summarized on www.lifelines.net. We thank all the participants of EPIC-Oxford and data collection teams for generously helping us in this research. EPIC-Oxford is supported by Cancer Research UK (C8221/A19170), and the UK Medical Research Council (MR/M012190). The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (The HUNT Study) is collaboration between HUNT Research Centre (Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU), NordTrøndelag County Council, Central Norway Health Authority, and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. P.E. is supported by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College Biomedical Research Centre funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Medical Research Council and Public Health England (MRC-PHE) Centre for Environment and Health (MR/L01341X/1), the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit on Health Impact of Environmental Hazards (HPRU-2012-10030-KCL) and he is an NIHR Senior Investigator. ; Peer-reviewed ; Post-print

The terminal Ediacaran contains dramatic changes in biogeochemical cycles, many of which are closely coupled with evolutionary transitions in the corresponding fossil records. Dynamic redox conditions may have caused a profound impact on early animal evolution. Our work highlights the significance of integrated bio-, litho-, and chemo-stratigraphy in geobiology research of the deep time. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched, as an international collaboration hosted by CERN. This study covers a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee) and an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), which could, successively, be installed in the same 100 km tunnel. The scientific capabilities of the integrated FCC programme would serve the worldwide community throughout the 21st century. The FCC study also investigates an LHC energy upgrade, using FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the second volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the electron-positron collider FCC-ee. After summarizing the physics discovery opportunities, it presents the accelerator design, performance reach, a staged operation scenario, the underlying technologies, civil engineering, technical infrastructure, and an implementation plan. FCC-ee can be built with today's technology. Most of the FCC-ee infrastructure could be reused for FCC-hh. Combining concepts from past and present lepton colliders and adding a few novel elements, the FCC-ee design promises outstandingly high luminosity. This will make the FCC-ee a unique precision instrument to study the heaviest known particles (Z, W and H bosons and the top quark), offering great direct and indirect sensitivity to new physics. ; European Union [654305, 764879, 730871, 777563]; FP7 [312453] ; Open access article ; This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted routine hospital services globally. This study estimated the total number of adult elective operations that would be cancelled worldwide during the 12 weeks of peak disruption due to COVID-19. Methods: A global expert response study was conducted to elicit projections for the proportion of elective surgery that would be cancelled or postponed during the 12 weeks of peak disruption. A Bayesian β-regression model was used to estimate 12-week cancellation rates for 190 countries. Elective surgical case-mix data, stratified by specialty and indication (surgery for cancer versus benign disease), were determined. This case mix was applied to country-level surgical volumes. The 12-week cancellation rates were then applied to these figures to calculate the total number of cancelled operations. Results: The best estimate was that 28 404 603 operations would be cancelled or postponed during the peak 12 weeks of disruption due to COVID-19 (2 367 050 operations per week). Most would be operations for benign disease (90·2 per cent, 25 638 922 of 28 404 603). The overall 12-week cancellation rate would be 72·3 per cent. Globally, 81·7 per cent of operations for benign conditions (25 638 922 of 31 378 062), 37·7 per cent of cancer operations (2 324 070 of 6 162 311) and 25·4 per cent of elective caesarean sections (441 611 of 1 735 483) would be cancelled or postponed. If countries increased their normal surgical volume by 20 per cent after the pandemic, it would take a median of 45 weeks to clear the backlog of operations resulting from COVID-19 disruption. Conclusion: A very large number of operations will be cancelled or postponed owing to disruption caused by COVID-19. Governments should mitigate against this major burden on patients by developing recovery plans and implementing strategies to restore surgical activity safely.