Journals
2025 EN
Amaha Nebyu Daniel
ABSTRACT International health authorities, including the World Health Organization, advise against infant consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages (UFB)—products high in sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats but low in micronutrients. Despite global evidence of rising UFB consumption among children, data from post‐conflict, low‐income settings like Mekelle remain limited. This cross‐sectional study assessed UFB consumption among 567 children aged 6–23 months in three randomly selected health facilities in Mekelle, northern Ethiopia, following the 2020–2022 war. Caregiver‐reported 24‐h recall revealed that 71.8% of children consumed at least one UFB, with sugar‐sweetened beverages being most common (62.9%), followed by sweets (41.8%), soft drinks (18.2%), and fried foods (9.2%). UFB consumption increased with age, peaking at 81.1% among 18‐ to 23‐month‐olds. Compared to children aged 6–11 months, those aged 12–17 months (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 2.3, 95% CI: 1.46–3.64, p < 0.001) and 18–23 months (AOR = 4.14, 95% CI: 2.36–7.26, p < 0.001) had significantly higher odds of UFB consumption. Children from high‐income households were 51% less likely to consume UFBs than those from low‐income households (AOR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.28–0.87, p = 0.014). Birth order influenced intake, with third/later‐born children nearly four times more likely to consume UFBs than first‐borns (AOR: 3.78, 95% CI: 1.19–11.98, p = 0.024). Larger household sizes showed protective effects, with four‐member (AOR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.10–0.96, p = 0.04) and five‐ to eight‐member households (AOR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.09–0.87, p = 0.028) having lower consumption than smaller households. The high UFB consumption in postwar Mekelle poses public health risks, particularly among older children and those from low‐income households. Targeted nutrition education, stricter UFB regulation, and improved access to healthy foods are essential to address this issue and promote healthier feeding practices.
Journals
2025 EN
Ioannidis Filippos · Kosmidou Kyriaki · Theodossiou Panayiotis
ABSTRACT This paper investigates the mean, volatility, skewness, and kurtosis of price spillovers from the natural gas, coal, and CO 2 emissions markets into the German electricity market from 2010 to July 2023, segmented into three periods: pre‐Russo‐Ukrainian war, war‐triggered price rise, and postwar adjustment. Utilizing a flexible probability model with time‐varying parameters and structural dummies for different periods and days of the week and applying the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) for model selection, the analysis reveals: (a) significant bidirectional mean spillovers between gas and coal markets, with coal prices exerting a stronger influence on gas prices; (b) volatility spillovers from the CO 2 market into the electricity market; (c) skewness spillovers from the coal market that negatively impact electricity skewness; and (d) kurtosis spillovers from the CO 2 market. The distribution of electricity price‐growth rates is characterized by extreme leptokurtosis and negative skewness, reflecting extreme price movements. These findings underscore the complex dynamics of these interconnected markets, offering valuable insights for market participants, policymakers, and risk managers in forecasting, hedging strategies, and pricing electricity derivatives during market turbulence.
Journals
2025 EN
Hu Zhepeng · Mallory Mindy
ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of USDA reports on Chinese soybean complex futures using intraday price and volume data from January 2011 to April 2021. The results show that the strongest price and volume reactions occur immediately after the market opens. On average, price reactions dissipate within a few minutes, while increased trading volume can last up to an hour. Significant announcement effects are observed for all major USDA reports, but the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report has minimal impact when not released alongside other USDA reports. During the trade war period, USDA reports had reduced impact on soybean no. 1 and soybean oil futures but remained influential on soybean no. 2 and soybean meal futures. Moreover, there is no evidence that the informational value of the WASDE report on Chinese soybean complex futures declined following the introduction of the China Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (CASDE) report.
Journals
2025 EN
Kumar Pramod
Europe responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 within a significant geopolitical context. Ukraine occupies a crucial strategic position between Europe and Russia, as most Russian energy supplies to European nations pass through Ukrainian territory. This war has severely impacted global and European energy security. The conflict's consequences for energy have reverberated worldwide, causing supply reductions, source diversification, price volatility, geopolitical tensions, and economic decline.
Journals
2025 EN
Osypov Valeriy · Bawa Arun · Osadcha Nataliia
+13 more
ABSTRACT The ongoing and post‐war reconstruction of Ukrainian water resources is critical for food production, public health, energy, industry and environmental protection. This effort, the most ambitious in Europe since World War II, faces challenges due to a lack of accessible decision‐support tools for managing water ecosystems effectively. In response, we developed a high‐resolution hydrological model of the Ukrainian Watershed using the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model to assess water balance across all nine major river basins, covering an area of 873,600 km 2 . The model is integrated into an interactive web interface—named ‘Land & Water’—which provides public access to model inputs and outputs and was designed considering FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. A multifaceted calibration approach, combining soft and hard methods, ensures balanced performance for surface, lateral and groundwater dynamics. The platform enables users to visualise and download model results, supporting both experts and non‐experts in water‐related decision making. The study demonstrates how the model helps close critical data gaps—providing estimates of river discharge for transboundary inflows, total and groundwater flow around the Kakhovka reservoir, and potential transpiration and crop growth to assess irrigation needs. Overall, the dataset offers a valuable tool for Ukraine's recovery, fosters transparent water governance, and supports environmental research on water quality, climate adaptation and sustainable agriculture.
Journals
2025 EN
Carigi Andrea · Silvestri Giuseppe · Todaro Carmine
Abstract The maintenance and safety assessment of tunnels are fundamental to infrastructure management, requiring a structured and standardized approach to ensure resilience and regulatory compliance. In Italy, the post‐war expansion of the transport network led to the construction of a huge number of tunnels, many of which are now approaching the end of their design life after more than 70 years of service. With over 9000 tunnels spanning approximately 2600 km across the national territory, managing this extensive asset presents a significant challenge, particularly within the framework of a complex and aging road network. To address these challenges, Italian tunnel maintenance regulations have evolved over time, culminating in the 2022 Italian Guidelines for the Risk Classification, Safety Evaluation, and Monitoring of Existing Tunnels . Developed by the Italian Superior Council of Public Works, these guidelines provide a unified methodology to assess risk, ensure safety, and plan maintenance operations at a national scale. They are now a mandatory reference for roadway existing tunnels across the country. This article analyses the structure and implementation of these guidelines, tracing their development from earlier regulatory frameworks, including Circolare 6736/61A1/67and the MIT Manuale di Ispezione . Furthermore, it explores the influence of international best practices, particularly the adoption of key principles from the French regulatory framework, such as the defect cataloguing system. A comparative analysis highlights both the similarities and distinctions between the Italian and French approaches, emphasizing common methodologies in risk assessment and inspection protocols. By examining the integration of these principles within the Italian regulatory framework, this study provides valuable insights into the evolution of tunnel maintenance strategies. The findings serve as a reference for policymakers, engineers, and researchers involved in infrastructure monitoring and safety management, offering a comprehensive overview of Italy's approach to tunnel maintenance in the view of increasing structural and operational challenges.
Journals
2025 EN
Honisch Maria · Branke Johannes · Keuschnig Markus
+2 more
Abstract The rapid development of new technologies and advances in science as ‘tools’ for specialists do not always bring the promised benefits. In a dialogue between retired, active and future generations of geoscientists and engineers, this contribution highlights the technical aspects as well as the human relationships. Especially in remote alpine areas, infrastructure design is increasingly confronted by spatial conflicts of interest in times of global environmental change. While the focus was mainly on solving technical problems (the art of engineering) 50 years ago, today the Procurement Law, environmental regulations and the accomplishment of procedures come first. New trends in contractual cooperation between client and contractor give hope that the technical challenges will once again take centre stage. In addition, the methods and technologies available to us are developing at rapid pace. Future generations face the significant challenge of not only gathering virtual data but also understanding it, verifying it, and ultimately generating added value. Our experience in science, geoscience and engineering shows, that interdisciplinary and intergenerational communication has to be enhanced in order to cope with the challenges of global change.
Journals
2025 DE
Soltau Philipp · Göthel Petra · Sommer Kathy
Abstract Als Projektträger der ostdeutschen Bergbausanierung entwickelt die Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau‐Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH (LMBV) neuartige Ansätze für effektive und nachhaltige Lösungen zur Wiedernutzbarmachung bergbaulich beanspruchter Flächen. In den Lausitzer Braunkohlentagebauen wurde der zur Kohlefreilegung abgetragene Abraum großflächig verkippt. Die locker gelagerten Kippenböden sind bei Wasseraufsättigung infolge des Grundwasserwiederanstieges äußerst verflüssigungsempfindlich. Insbesondere in Kippentieflagen mit geringen Grundwasserflurabständen besteht beim Befahren mit schwerem Gerät eine erhebliche Gefährdung durch großräumige Geländeeinbrüche und Rutschungen, da der Boden im Verflüssigungsfall seine Tragfähigkeit verliert. Die vom Bergbau beanspruchten Flächen sind für eine forst‐ und landwirtschaftliche Folgenutzung wiederherzustellen, jedoch ist der Einsatz schwerer Geräte für die Sanierung angesichts der geotechnischen Gefährdungen nicht möglich. Es war daher erforderlich, für grundwasserflurnahe Kippenbereiche alternative Sanierungstechnologien zu entwickeln und zu testen. Als innovatives Verfahren wurde die Verfüllung von Tieflagen mit einem Leichtbaustoff ausgearbeitet, wobei dieser aus sicherer Entfernung über Schlauchleitungen herantransportiert und eingebaut werden kann. Ziel des Verfüllens ist die Herstellung ausreichender Grundwasserflurabstände, um damit die Tragfähigkeit für den anschließenden Einsatz von Erdbautechnik zur weiteren Überdeckung mit kulturfähigem Boden zu gewährleisten. Nach Vorauswahl und umfangreichen Laboruntersuchungen wurde der Leichtbaustoff Perlite ausgewählt und dessen Anwendbarkeit in einem Pilotvorhaben überprüft. Es wurde eine Einbautechnologie hinsichtlich Staubentwicklung, erforderlicher Wasserzugabe, Förderreichweite und Auffüllleistung getestet. Ebenso wurden die Perliteoberfläche bezüglich der Begeh‐ und Befahrbarkeit sowie das Setzungsverhalten bei Überdeckung mit Boden untersucht. Die Eignung des Leichtbaustoffes Perlite zur Verfüllung grundwassernaher Kippentieflagen kann bestätigt werden. Aufgrund der hohen Gestellungskosten der Perlite ist der zukünftige Einsatz als Sondertechnologie in besonders sensiblen Kippenbereichen vorgesehen.
Journals
2025 DE
Abstract Zum Titelbild : In den Lausitzer Braunkohlentagebauen wurde der zur Kohlefreilegung abgetragene Abraum großflächig verkippt. Die locker gelagerten Kippenböden sind bei Wasseraufsättigung infolge des Grundwasserwiederanstieges äußerst verflüssigungsempfindlich und der Einsatz schwerer Geräte für die Sanierung angesichts der geotechnischen Gefährdungen war nicht möglich. Als innovatives Verfahren wurde die Verfüllung von Tieflagen mit Perlite ausgearbeitet, wobei dieser aus sicherer Entfernung über Schlauchleitungen herantransportiert und eingebaut werden kann (Beitrag Soltau, P. et al., S. 48–56).
Journals
2025 EN
Kantaruk Pierre Oksana · Mogos Descotes Raluca · PlaBarber José
Abstract Research Summary This study explores how relational capital fosters Ukrainian exporters resilience through anticipation, coping, and pre‐adaptation during wartime. Motivated by the limited understanding of how SMEs face extreme crises, we conducted 19 in‐depth interviews with Ukrainian exporters and seven follow‐up interviews a year later. Our findings reveal a gap in risk assessment and contingency planning, underscoring the need for proactive crisis strategies. Communication, mutual commitment, and trust emerge as key relational mechanisms that enable exporters to manage cross‐border challenges effectively in high‐risk environments. Cooperation serves both as a coping mechanism and a driver of strategic adaptation, enabling firms to adjust business models, enter new markets, and sustain competitiveness despite ongoing conflict. This study highlights the critical role of international partnerships in resilience‐building for SMEs. Managerial Summary This study offers key insights for managing crises in war‐affected areas, providing practical guidance for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. It emphasizes the importance of a structured approach, including anticipation, coping, and adaptation, to enhance resilience and strategic responses during conflicts. Critical to the anticipation stage is integrating risk management strategies with proactive planning and balancing trust with foreign partners, which prepares organizations to address potential challenges effectively. During the coping stage, prioritizing transparent communication and adopting flexible strategies while honoring commitments are crucial for maintaining operational continuity. The pre‐adaptation stage focuses on developing long‐term strategies and robust partnerships, essential for facilitating strategic transformation. Collectively, these stages form a comprehensive framework for dealing with the complexities of war‐induced crises.