| 41. |
- Hansson, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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An ecological study of chronic kidney disease in five Mesoamerican countries : associations with crop and heat
- 2021
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Ingår i: BMC Public Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2458. ; 21:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Mesoamerica is severely affected by an epidemic of Chronic Kidney Disease of non-traditional origin (CKDnt), an epidemic with a marked variation within countries. We sought to describe the spatial distribution of CKDnt in Mesoamerica and examine area-level crop and climate risk factors.METHODS: CKD mortality or hospital admissions data was available for five countries: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and linked to demographic, crop and climate data. Maps were developed using Bayesian spatial regression models. Regression models were used to analyze the association between area-level CKD burden and heat and cultivation of four crops: sugarcane, banana, rice and coffee.RESULTS: There are regions within each of the five countries with elevated CKD burden. Municipalities in hot areas and much sugarcane cultivation had higher CKD burden, both compared to equally hot municipalities with lower intensity of sugarcane cultivation and to less hot areas with equally intense sugarcane cultivation, but associations with other crops at different intensity and heat levels were not consistent across countries.CONCLUSION: Mapping routinely collected, already available data could be a first step to identify areas with high CKD burden. The finding of higher CKD burden in hot regions with intense sugarcane cultivation which was repeated in all five countries agree with individual-level studies identifying heavy physical labor in heat as a key CKDnt risk factor. In contrast, no associations between CKD burden and other crops were observed.
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| 42. |
- Nightingale, Andrea, et al.
(författare)
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Transforming environmental governance: critical action intellectuals and their praxis in the field
- 2022
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Ingår i: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4065 .- 1862-4057. ; 17, s. 621-635
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over the past decade, widespread concern has emerged over how environmental governance can be transformed to avoid impending catastrophes such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and livelihood insecurity. A variety of approaches have emerged, focusing on either politics, technological breakthrough, social movements, or macro-economic processes as the main drivers of change. In contrast, this paper presents theoretical insights about how systemic change in environmental governance can be triggered by critical and intellectually grounded social actors in specific contexts of environment and development. Conceptualising such actors as critical action intellectuals (CAI), we analyze how CAI emerge in specific socio-environmental contexts and contribute to systemic change in governance. CAI trigger transformative change by shifting policy discourse, generating alternative evidence, and challenging dominant policy assumptions, whilst aiming to empower marginalized groups. While CAI do not work in a vacuum, nor are the sole force in transformation, we nevertheless show that the praxis of CAI within fields of environmental governance has the potential to trigger transformation. We illustrate this through three cases of natural resource governance in Nepal, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and Kenya, where the authors themselves have engaged as CAI. We contribute to theorising the 'how' of transformation by showing the ways CAI praxis reshape fields of governance and catalyze transformation, distinct from, and at times complementary to, other dominant drivers such as social movements, macroeconomic processes or technological breakthroughs.
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| 43. |
- Wesseling, C., et al.
(författare)
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Chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin in Mesoamerica: a disease primarily driven by occupational heat stress
- 2020
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Ingår i: Revista Panamericana De Salud Publica-Pan American Journal of Public Health. - : Pan American Health Organization. - 1020-4989. ; 44
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The death toll of the epidemic of chronic kidney disease of nontraditional origin (CKDnt) in Mesoamerica runs into the tens of thousands, affecting mostly young men. There is no consensus on the etiology. Anecdotal evidence from the 1990s pointed to work in sugarcane; pesticides and heat stress were suspected. Subsequent population-based surveys supported an occupational origin with overall high male-female ratios in high-risk lowlands, but small sex differences within occupational categories, and low prevalence in non-workers. CKDnt was reported in sugarcane and other high-intensity agriculture, and in non-agricultural occupations with heavy manual labor in hot environments, but not among subsistence farmers. Recent studies with stronger designs have shown cross-shift changes in kidney function and hydration biomarkers and cross-harvest kidney function declines related to heat and workload. The implementation of a water-rest-shade intervention midharvest in El Salvador appeared to halt declining kidney function among cane cutters. In Nicaragua a water-rest-shade program appeared sufficient to prevent kidney damage among cane workers with low-moderate workload but not among cutters with heaviest workload. Studies on pesticides and infectious risk factors have been largely negative. Non-occupational risk factors do not explain the observed epidemiologic patterns. In conclusion, work is the main driver of the CKDnt epidemic in Mesoamerica, with occupational heat stress being the single uniting factor shown to lead to kidney dysfunction in affected populations. Sugarcane cutters with extreme heat stress could be viewed as a sentinel occupational population. Occupational heat stress prevention is critical, even more so in view of climate change.
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| 44. |
- Zapata Campos, María José, 1972, et al.
(författare)
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Grassroots innovations in 'extreme' urban environments. The inclusive recycling movement
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space. - : SAGE Publications. - 2399-6544 .- 2399-6552. ; 41:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Waste pickers all over the world work innovatively to reduce the environmental footprint of cities as they struggle to meet their critical livelihood obligations. Informed by the case of waste picker organizations (WPOs) this article examines how grassroots initiatives and extreme-niche innovations are created and sustained by mobilizing resources, rationales and relations. The study is informed by a cross-national survey and in-depth interviews with WPOs in Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, Kenya and Tanzania, and builds upon theories of grassroots innovation movements. The findings show how operating in contexts of extreme scarcity, these grassroots organisations tap into local resources, e.g. tacit knowledge, economies of affection and other socially embedded institutional resources. Blending material and environmental rationales, contributes to expanding their audiences and to gaining further support. In such deprived urban contexts, radical and cumulative crises and events hindering residents’ livelihoods can paradoxically also spark ingenuity out of necessity, and the transformation of these settings into extreme niches of innovation. Finally, the mobilization of relations through the formation of networks linking WPOs with supportive intermediaries and global circuits of solidarity becomes another fundamental resilience strategy by which WPOs can navigate contested environments and insert their extreme-niche innovations in governmental structures. By simultaneously adopting a broad repertoire of strategies of insertion, contention, and mobilization WPO and their innovations thrive in highly constrained environments. We conclude with reflecting on how ‘extreme’ niches of innovation − at the cracks of the formal city, economy and waste systems − can unleash the creative power of stigmatized, illiterate and neglected grassroots to experiment with new solutions in resource-poor environments.
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| 45. |
- Glaser, J., et al.
(författare)
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Preventing kidney injury among sugarcane workers: Promising evidence from enhanced workplace interventions
- 2020
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Ingår i: Occupational and Environmental Medicine. - : BMJ. - 1351-0711 .- 1470-7926. ; 77:8, s. 527-534
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: To assess if improvement of working conditions related to heat stress was associated with improved kidney health outcomes among sugarcane harvest workers in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, a region heavily affected by the epidemic of chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin. Methods: Based on our findings during the 2017-2018 harvest (harvest 1), recommendations that enhanced the rest schedule and improved access to hydration and shade were given before the 2018-2019 harvest (harvest 2). Actual work conditions during harvest 2 were then observed. Serum creatinine (SCr) was measured before and at end-harvest, and cross-harvest changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and incident kidney injury (IKI, ie, SCr increase by ≥0.30 mg/dL or ≥1.5 times the baseline value) were compared between harvest 1 and harvest 2 for three jobs with different physical workloads using regression modelling. Workers who left during harvest were contacted at home, to address the healthy worker selection effect. Results: In burned cane cutters, mean cross-harvest eGFR decreased 6 mL/min/1.73 m2 (95% CI 2 to 9 mL/min/1.73 m2) less and IKI was 70% (95% CI 90% to 50%) lower in harvest 2 as compared with harvest 1 data. No such improvements were seen among seed cutters groups with less successful intervention implementation. Conclusion: Kidney injury risk was again elevated in workers with strenuous jobs. The results support further efforts to prevent kidney injury among sugarcane workers, and other heat-stressed workers, by improving access to water, rest and shade. The distinction between design and implementation of such interventions should be recognised. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
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| 46. |
- Hansson, Erik, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Point-of-care biomarkers for prediction of kidney function trajectory among sugarcane cutters: a comparative test accuracy study
- 2022
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Ingår i: Bmj Open. - : BMJ. - 2044-6055. ; 12:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Heat-stressed Mesoamerican workers, such as sugarcane cutters, suffer from high rates of chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin (CKDnt). We aimed to identify easily available early markers of rapid kidney function decline in a population at high risk of CKDnt. DESIGN: The accuracy of different biomarkers measured during harvest for prediction of cross-harvest kidney function decline were assessed in an exploratory study group, and the performance of the most promising biomarker was then assessed in an independent confirmation group. SETTING: Male sugarcane cutters in El Salvador and Nicaragua. PARTICIPANTS: 39 male Salvadoran sugarcane cutters sampled fortnightly at ≤9 occasions before and after work shift during harvest. 371 male Nicaraguan sugarcane cutters were sampled as part of routine monitoring during two harvests. Cutters worked at high physical intensity at wet-bulb globe temperatures mostly above 29°C for 6-8 hours per day 6 days a week during the 5-6 months harvest season. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: Change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (CKD Epidemiology Collaboration) across the harvest season (ΔeGFRcross-harvest). RESULTS: Dipstick leukocyturia after work shift in the El Salvadoran group was the most promising marker, explaining >25% of ΔeGFRcross-harvest variance at 8/9 occasions during harvest. Leukocyturia was associated with experiencing fever, little or dark urine, cramps, headache, dizziness and abdominal pain in the preceding 2-week period. Decreasing blood haemoglobin (Hb) and eGFR during harvest were also predictive of ΔeGFRcross-harvest. In the Nicaraguan confirmation dataset, those having ≥++ leukocyturia at any sampling during harvest had a 13 mL/min/1.73 m2 (95% CI 10 to 16 mL/min/1.73 m2) worse ΔeGFRcross-harvest than those without recorded leukocyturia. CONCLUSION: Leukocyturia and Hb, both measurable with point-of-care methods, may be early indicators for kidney injury and risk for eGFR decline among heat-stressed male workers, thereby facilitating individual-level prevention and research aiming to understand the causes of CKDnt.
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| 47. |
- Gonda, Noémi
(författare)
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Exploring the Love Triangle of Authoritarianism, Populism, and COVID-19 Through Political Ecology: Time for a Break-Up?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Human Dynamics. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2673-2726. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Authoritarian and populist regimes have used the coronavirus pandemic as another excuse to further push back on democracy. Through the lens of boundary-making, we discuss power processes in pandemic politics of three countries whose governments and power constellations rely on authoritarian and/or populist politics (Hungary, Nicaragua, and Guatemala). Our aim is to envision the conceptual and practical possibilities for breaking up the unhealthy love relationship amid pandemic politics, authoritarianism, and populism, and for ultimately dismantling all three. On the basis of secondary data, personal communications, and our lived experiences, we analyze pandemic politics in authoritarian and populist contexts, exploring their ambiguous and co-constitutive effects through three apparent contradictions. First, we discuss control, or the ways in which the framing of the pandemic by authoritarian and populist regimes as an emergency, a quasi-war situation, or an excuse for political opportunism entails an attempt to justify command-and-control policies upon public behavior, intimate daily life, and subject classification. However, these control measures also bring about contestation through self-quarantine calls, accountability-driven demands of epidemiological data, and/or counter-narratives. Second, we engage with the contradiction of knowledge, by pointing out how authoritarian knowledge politics regarding the pandemic are based on over-centralized decision-making processes, manipulation of epidemiological data, and the silencing of unauthorized voices. Simultaneously, these measures are challenged and resisted by counter-knowledge alternatives on pandemic data and the struggles for subaltern forms of knowledge that could make relevant contributions to public health. Third, we discuss the contradiction of subjectivation processes. Authoritarian regimes make extraordinary efforts to draw a line between those bodies and subjects that deserve state protection and those that do not. In this situation, multiple forms of exclusion intersect and are reinforced based on ethnic, political, national, and gender differences. The manipulation of emotions is crucial in these divisions, often creating “worthy” and “unworthy” subjects. This highlights interconnectedness among vulnerabilities and emphasizes how care and solidarity are important elements in defying authoritarian populism. Finally, we conclude by proposing strategies that would allow political ecology to support prospects of emancipation for social justice, desperately needed in a pandemic-prone foreseeable future.
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| 48. |
- Öhman, May-Britt, 1966-
(författare)
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No magic wands/ Ungreen windpower : Sámi and Scientific Perspectives on fossil dependent and environmentally destructive designs
- 2023
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Ingår i: New Performance Turku Biennale 5.-10.9.2023. - Turku : New Performance Turku Biennale 5.-10.9.2023.
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Konferensbidrag (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- There are no magic wands. The current ongoing so called “green transition” is in reality environmentally destructive, fossil dependent and also aggressively colonial. May-Britt Öhman and Eva Charlotta Helsdotter will discuss the case of wind power, currently massively promoted by environmentalists, governments and large companies as part of the “green” transition. However, windpower plants come with the need for massive extraction and use of resources; rare earth metals, lime stone, steel, all which demand more mines. The wings, due to leading edge erosion, are according to a recent study (A. Solberg, B-E. Rimereit and J. E. Weinbach, 2021) emitting hormone and fertility disturbing micro- and nano plastics (Bisphenol A) polluting surface water and in the long term also ground water. Windpower plants need large areas. In the more populated regions it is politically difficult to reach acceptance. Therefore, in Sweden and in Norway, wind power is installed in the Sámi reindeer herding territories, where the Sámi Indigenous land and water rights are still not acknowledged.May-Britt Öhman is Associate Professor in Environmental History, PhD in History of Technology. Öhman leads the research group “Dálkke: Indigenous Climate Change Studies”, funded within the Swedish National Research Program on Climate Change,( FORMAS Dnr 2017-01923, 2019-0197, 2021-01723) and is a researcher at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism, CEMFOR, Uppsala University. She is Lule and Forest Sámi of the Lule River valley, and has also Tornedalian heritage. Öhman is by the Swedish government appointed expert of the Committee on Reindeer Lands – Renmarkskommittén (N 2021:02) 2022—2025, on the mandate of the National Sámi Association Same Ätnam. Öhman has over the last two decades contributed to the work with the establishment and development of the research field Indigenous Climate Change Studies, centering Indigenous peoples’ experiences, perspectives and epistemologies, through publications, organization of meetings, and the building of networks. Eva Charlotta Helsdotter has a PhD in Land and Water Resources Management and is an Associate Professor in Water Security. She has been an international research leader in land and water related research, e.g. in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Kenya and Tanzania and in national environmental and sustainability projects. She has investigated drinking water supplies and designed protection needed to ensure good water quality. Since 2009 she has been involved in several research projects on the Swedish side of Sámi territories. Helsdotter is a researcher at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism, CEMFOR, Uppsala University and part of the research group Dálkke: Indigenous Climate Change Studies.Öhman and Helsdotter have collaborated since 2009, and together with filmmaker Petri Storlöpare produced several films; about the Talvivaara mining disaster in Finland The Talvivaara mine – Water consequences and the film Ungreen windpower: Sámi Indigenous and scientific perspectives on fossil dependent and environmentally destructive designs, 2021. Other films are available at the youtube channel for the research group “Dálkke: Indigenous Climate Change Studies”.Our research work is funded by FORMAS, Dnr 2019-0197 within the Swedish National Research Program on Climate Change, and FORMAS Dnr 2021-01723. Dálkke: Indigenous Climate Change Studies, at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism (CEMFOR), Uppsala University
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