Mustafa A.G. Abushagur

Mustafa A.G. Abushagur is a Libyan politician, professor of electrical engineering, university president and entrepreneur. He became the first elected Prime Minister of modern Libya on September 12, 2012

HPTN 052

HPTN 052 is the name of a clinical trial which examined the extent to which antiretroviral therapy (ART) can, when taken by people who have HIV, decrease their infectivity and thereby reduce the chance that they will pass HIV on to their sexual partners. The results of the study were so compelling, that the study's Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) asked the research team to share the results with all study participants and offer ART to the control group before the study ended. The study continues to determine if the results - that ART can reduce the transmission of HIV by 96% - have durability. The trial was organized by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN).

nucleic acid amplification test

NEW RAPID TUBERCULOSIS TEST

http://www.who.int/tb/features_archive/new_rapid_test/en/

Synriam

Indian pharmaceutical firm Ranbaxy has launched the drug Synriam, which it claims will prove a more efficient and simpler treatment for malaria.

Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS)

Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy, is a novel method for accurate and robust chemical analysis of objects where the contents are obscured by an opaque layer or container.

The Green Economy Initiative

A green economy is described as one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In other words, we can think of a green economy as an economic environment that achieves low carbon emissions, resource efficiency and at the same time is socially inclusive. 
 
The Green Economy Initiative

The UNEP-led Green Economy Initiative, launched in late 2008, provides a comprehensive and practical working mechanism, through analysis and policy support for investing in green sectors and in greening environmental unfriendly sectors.

The Green Economy Initiative has three main activities, which are to produce a Green Economy Report and related research materials, which will analyse the macroeconomic, sustainability, and poverty reduction implications of green investment in a range of sectors; to provide advisory services on ways to move towards a green economy in specific countries; and to engage a wide range of research, non-governmental organizations, business and UN partners in implementing the Green Economy Initiative.
 
Regardless of the environmental benefits and options for sustainability, investment into a Green Economy is captured in several reports as an agent for creating millions of new jobs, such UNEP’s Green Jobs report. One of the main engines for economic growth is a higher rate of employment, which both reduces a burden on the economy and gives consumers the purchasing power to sustain lives through supporting industries.

By 2008, over 2.3 million people in just six leading countries in green jobs were employed in this low-carbon sector (China, Denmark, Germany, India Spain, and the United States). The Green Economy is therefore not just a passing environmental fad but is one of the best solutions available for sustainable economic growth that recognizes the social component.

Eloo/Bapu

http://newindianexpress.com/nation/article549911.ece

Carbon Offsetting

Example: Business A1 is unable to reduce 100 tonnes of its CO2 emissions in the short term. There is a project somewhere else in the world which could save 100 tonnes easily, but they need a cash injection. For example, a community in India could swap from carbon intensive kerosene as an energy source to solar panels – but they can’t afford the solar panels. Through the purchase of carbon offsets, you provide the financial assistance to subsidise the cost of getting solar panels onto housing, and through that means you have enabled a saving of 100 tonnes of CO2. Business A1 has therefore reduced global net CO2 emissions by 100 tonnes. The added benefit is that Business A1 has helped facilitate a step change in local technology in a developing market.

http://www.carbonneutral.com/knowledge-centre/offsetting-explained/

Ansar Dine

Translated as "Defenders of the Faith" also transliterated Ançar Deen, is an Islamist group led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Ag Ghaly, one of the most prominent leaders of a Tuareg rebellion in the 1990s, is accused of having links with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and other Islamist groups, a splinter group which is led by his cousin Hamada Ag Hama. Ansar Dine wants the imposition of strict Sharia law across Mali.The group's first action was in March 2012.

Red Tide/HABs

What are Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)?

Marine and fresh waters teem with life, much of it microscopic, and most of it harmless; in fact, it is this microscopic life on which all aquatic life ultimately depends for food. While most of these species of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria are harmless, there are a few dozen that create potent toxins given the right conditions. Harmful algal blooms may cause harm through the production of toxins or by their accumulated biomass, which can affect co-occurring organisms and alter food-web dynamics. Impacts include human illness and mortality following consumption of or indirect exposure to HAB toxins, substantial economic losses to coastal communities and commercial fisheries, and HAB-associated fish, bird and mammal mortalities. To the human eye, blooms can appear greenish, brown, and even reddish- orange depending upon the algal species, the aquatic ecosystem, and the concentration of the organisms.

These outbreaks are commonly called red tides, but scientists prefer the term "harmful algal blooms" (or HABs). The term red tide erroneously includes many blooms that discolor the water but cause no harm, and also excludes blooms of highly toxic cells that cause problems at low (and essentially invisible) cell concentrations. Therefore, harmful algal bloom is a more appropriate descriptor.