Effects of armed conflict on natural resources and conservation measures in Northern Ethiopia

KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

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Graphical abstract that shows how conflict directly and indirectly degraded land and ecosystems

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Credit: Meaza, Hailemariam, et al

The Tigray region, located in northern Ethiopia, has a history of civil wars and recurrent conflicts. In November 2020, a new violent conflict erupted.

According to a recent study in the International Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Research, the conflict, which lasted until 2022, not only caused a humanitarian crisis but also destroyed decades of work on environmental restoration and land conservation.

The study, led by Hailemariam Meaza from Mekelle University in Ethiopia,  examined the environmental impact of the conflict, particularly on natural resources together with soil and water Conservation (SWC) efforts during wartime.

“We found that the conflict caused direct damage to the environment,” shares Meaza. “Artillery fire and bombings left many bomb craters, with an average depth of 1.15 meters and a surface diameter of 2.66 meters.”

Notably, military activities, like building trenches and fortifications, exposed soil to erosion and polluted water. Terraces and stone bunds were torn down to build temporary fortifications, making soil degradation worse.

“Beyond the battlefield, the indirect impacts of conflict proved equally destructive,” adds Meaza. “Devastated farmers shifted their livelihood strategies from long-term sustainability to immediate economic recovery, putting more pressure on natural resources. During the siege, widespread energy shortages forced people to use wood and charcoal from protected forests.”

Additionally, the conflict impacted environmental institutions and weakened conservation efforts. “Funding for SWC activities stopped, and with no forest guards, trees were cut down without control,” says Maeza. “We estimated that millions of seedlings and many SWC structures were lost during the conflict.”

Prior to these events, Tigray had made good progress in environmental restoration, thanks to the work of local and international organizations. Degraded lands were restored, and various SWC measures were put in place, leading to more vegetation and less soil erosion. But the conflict stopped these efforts suddenly.

The authors stress that rebuilding Tigray’s landscapes will need a coordinated post-conflict recovery effort. “This effort must not only fix physical structures but also rebuild trust, governance, and funding systems. However, ecological recovery will take much longer than rebuilding infrastructure,” says Meaza. “Peace is most important. Without it, restoration is impossible.”

To that end, the researchers urge the Ethiopian government and its troops to be more aware of the need for peace and to break the cycle of war and peace. For future studies, they suggest doing more detailed research to measure the environmental losses and damages so as to make the landscapes and farmers’ livelihoods more resilient.

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Contact the author: Dr. Hailemariam Meaza,Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Mekelle University, Ethiopia,hailemariam.meaza@mu.edu.et

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

  

War break environmental protection and natural resources

Credit

Yuqi

Journal

International Soil and Water Conservation Research

DOI

10.1016/j.iswcr.2024.11.004 

Article Title

The effects of armed conflict on natural resources and conservation measures in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

 

Ateneo futurists envision AI-powered food stalls, sari-sari stores

Ateneo de Manila University

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Researchers from Ateneo de Manila University's Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD) have developed an AI-powered system that helps food stalls and sari-sari stores turn handwritten sales logbooks into actionable business insights, aiming to support rather than replace workers by making it easier to track inventory and sales trends using accessible, low-cost technology.

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Credit: Ccai Llamas / The Guidon

The Ateneo de Manila University’s Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD) is looking at ways for artificial intelligence (AI) to augment and enhance—rather than replace—human labor in small businesses, which make up the bulk of the Philippine economy.

BUILD researchers Zachary Matthew Alabastro, Joseph Benjamin Ilagan, Lois Abigail To, and Jose Ramon Ilagan pay particular attention to a very ubiquitous tool of everyday business: the humble pen-and-paper logbook. Low cost, simple, and reliable, this analog solution is indispensable for keeping track of the multitude of small items that change hands throughout the day in small businesses, from shopping center food stalls to neighborhood “sari-sari” or convenience stores.

A handwritten ledger can be counted on for record-keeping even in the bustling and oftentimes hectic environment of a kitchen or backroom, where an electronic tablet might be too cumbersome or fragile to use. But despite their dependable simplicity, handwritten logs can be painstaking to tabulate and make sense of—especially when one is trying to glean insights into how to better run a business.

Meanwhile, AI lends itself perfectly to business data analysis: it makes short work of identifying which products are performing well or poorly; tracking sales trends over time; and offering recommendations on inventory, pricing, and restocking.

Understandably, however, many small business owners and workers hesitate to digitize out of concern over steep learning curves and job redundancy. But the Ateneo researchers propose a “copilot” model, in which AI complements and supports human effort.

Their study, presented at the recent Artificial Intelligence in Human-Computer Interaction Conference 2025 in Sweden, explores how optical character recognition (OCR) and large language model (LLM) technology can turn handwritten sales logs into more manageable digital data. Tested in an actual food stall at the Ateneo’s Student Enterprise Center, the researchers’ system is built with Python and uses Amazon Web Services for OCR and Anthropic’s Claude 3 Haiku LLM to interpret the handwritten logbook data. 

The system allows even someone with no digital training to grasp inventory trends with ease. It scans logbook photos and uses AI to recognize products, match prices, and tabulate sales summaries. This helps businesses quickly identify bestsellers or slow-moving stock, thereby making it easier to keep up with customer demand. 

The researchers’ early prototype shows moderate accuracy and offers much hope for improvement. It can also be adapted, they say, to handle other kinds of handwritten data such as inventory sheets, delivery logs, or even payroll ledgers. 

Not unlike analog logbooks themselves, this AI tool is meant to be simple, affordable, and easily upgradable. As AI accuracy improves by training on more shorthand writing, local stalls can eventually gain reliable, low-cost access to business insights once reserved for larger enterprises.

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DOI

10.1007/978-3-031-93429-2_18 

Article Title

Applied Optical Character Recognition and Large Language Models in Augmenting Manual Business Processes for Data Analytics in Traditional Small Businesses with Minimal Digital Adoption

 

New research reveals ancient alliance between woody plants and microbes has potential to protect precious peatlands

University of Bristol

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Woody plants expanding in a southern China peatland

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Credit: Yiming Zhang

As the climate warms and regional drying becomes more frequent, peatlands – some of the planet’s most important carbon sinks – are increasingly under threat. But a study, led by an international team including scientists from the University of Bristol, has shown peatland ecosystems may have a natural defence through the combined forces of plant changes and microbes. 

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that during historic periods of drying the growth of woody plants in a subtropical Chinese peatland improved the quality of organic matter and suppressed decomposing microbial activity. This plant–microbe cooperation helped safeguard carbon stores at a time when they might otherwise have been lost to the atmosphere. 

Lead author Dr Yiming Zhang, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol, said: “Woody plants didn’t just survive in a drying climate – they helped build resilience. Their inputs made the peat more chemically resistant to breakdown, and in response, microbes adjusted their metabolism, reducing the rate of carbon loss. It’s a surprising natural feedback we didn’t fully appreciate before.” 

Using a combination of plant macrofossil analysis, microbial lipid biomarkers, and compound-specific carbon and hydrogen isotope techniques, the team reconstructed the past 14,000 years of ecological change in the Zhaogongting peatland in southern China. 

The researchers found that during a mid-Holocene drying phase, dating back 8,000 to 6,000 years ago, woody plants rapidly expanded, replacing grasses while continuing to coexist with mosses. This vegetation shift altered the composition of peat organic matter. Carbohydrates became less abundant, while aromatic compounds increased, resulting in a transition towards a more intractable carbon pool. In response, microbial communities showed signs of suppressed heterotrophic (where an organism eats organic remains from other plants or animals for energy and nutrients) activity and possibly shifted towards more autotrophic (where an organism makes its own food) modes of metabolism.  

Findings showed these combined changes contributed to a striking peak in carbon accumulation during the drying period, with rates nearly three times higher than in other periods. 

Co-author Prof Rich Pancost, Professor of Biogeochemistry at the University of Bristol Cabot Institute for the Environment, said: “Peatland vegetation is highly susceptible to climate change. This work reveals how that can significantly affect the composition of organic matter and its reactivity. By extension, it reveals the complexity of the positive and negative feedbacks between climate change, ecological responses and carbon cycling.” 

Co-author Prof Angela Gallego-Sala, a biogeochemist at the University of Exeter, added: “We know peatlands are resilient ecosystems that have persisted over millennia, with some really unique in-built hydro-ecological feedbacks. But this work presents evidence of a new, previously unknown, process that protects peatlands under warmer drier conditions, with important implications for the fate of peatlands under current climate change.” 

The study however also highlights it is likely this protective plant–microbe feedback has limits.  

Dr Zhang, who also conducted this research in his previous role as a postdoctoral researcher at China University of Geosciences, in Wuhan, said: “The expansion of woody plants does not indefinitely enhance carbon storage and there may be ecological thresholds beyond which peatlands shift into fundamentally different ecosystems, potentially triggering renewed carbon loss.” 

Further research is needed to better understand how peatland ecosystems respond to climate-driven transitions, particularly in the tropics and in degraded landscapes. The Climate, Energy and Carbon in the Earth System (CERES) team, led by Prof Rich Pancost is investigating how microbial processes and carbon cycling operate in these vulnerable systems.  

Paper 

‘Microbial responses to changing plant community protect peatland carbon stores during Holocene drying’ by Yiming Zhang et al in Nature Communications 

Further information 

The Cabot Institute for the Environment works with academics, students, and research partners, as well as local and international communities, governments and individuals, to help solve the biggest global environmental challenges. Its mission is to provide knowledge, evidence, education, and solutions that protect our environment and identify better ways to live within our changing planet. 

Notes to editors 

Lead author Dr Yiming Zhang, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol and co-author Prof Rich Pancost, Professor of Biogeochemistry at the University of Bristol, are available for interview.  

Please contact Steve Salter, News & Content Officer, University of Bristol: steven.salter@bristol.ac.uk 

University of Bristol researchers extracting long peat cores from Cors Caron Bog, near Tregaron

University of Bristol researchers extracting long peat cores from Tor Royal Bog, in Dartmoor

Credit

Credit: Mike Vreeken

Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-025-62175-1 

Article Title

Microbial responses to changing plant community protect peatland carbon stores during Holocene drying

Psychedelics and non-hallucinogenic analogs work through the same receptor, up to a point

University of California - Davis

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Understanding exactly how psychedelics promote new connections in the brain is critical to developing targeted, non-hallucinogenic therapeutics that can treat neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. To achieve this, researchers are mapping the biochemical pathways involved in both neuroplasticity and hallucinations.  

In new research led by the University of California, Davis, researchers found that non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelic drugs promote neuroplasticity through the same biochemical pathway as psychedelics. However, unlike psychedelics, they don’t activate genes long thought to be key players in that process.  

The research, published Aug. 4 in Nature Neuroscience, compared the biochemical pathways activated by the hallucinogenic compound 5-MeO-DMT and its non-hallucinogenic analog tabernanthalog (TBG).

“The prevailing hypothesis in the field was that psychedelics promote neuroplasticity by causing this big burst of glutamate in the brain, which then turns on intermediate early genes,” said David E. Olson, director of the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics and a professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular medicine at UC Davis. “We now know that non-hallucinogenic compounds like TBG can promote neuroplasticity without inducing a glutamate burst or immediate early gene activation.”

“This work challenges the current dogma in the field,” said John A. Gray, a co-author of the study and the associate director of the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics as well as a professor in the Center for Neuroscience at UC Davis.

The team found that TBG promotes neuroplasticity by activating the same psychedelic receptor as 5-MeO-DMT, but the difference is the extent of the activation.

The researchers also provide the first direct evidence that a non-hallucinogenic psychedelic analog like TBG, produces sustained antidepressant-like effects through the growth of dendritic spines in the brain’s prefrontal cortex.  

Following the biochemical flow

Using pharmacological and genetic tools in rodents, the team found that both TBG and 5-MeO-DMT promoted cortical neuroplasticity by activating the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2A). Both drugs then induced the downstream activation of the same receptors and proteins, including TrkB, mTOR and AMPA. 

This means that that despite TBG being non-hallucinogenic, it turns on one of the same biochemical pathways that psychedelics do. Whereas 5-MeO-DMT is a full agonist, TBG is a partial agonist.  

Olson likened agonists to water faucets. Full agonists turn on the faucet all the way, allowing for a full flow of water, while partial agonists only allow for drips and limited streams. 

“Full agonists turn on hallucinations and they also turn on plasticity,” Olson said. “Partial agonists only turn on the receptor part way and that seems to be sufficient to turn on plasticity.” 

Link between neuroplasticity and antidepressant effects 

The study addressed an open question in psychedelic science. While the activation of 5-HT2A receptors by psychedelics is known to promote neuroplasticity, the link between this and psychedelics’ sustained antidepressant effects was unclear. 

“Are the neuroplasticity-promoting effects — the growth of these dendritic spines in the prefrontal cortex — responsible for the antidepressant effects?” Olson wondered.

It turns out, they are. 

With advanced genetic tools, the team tagged the dendritic spines that grew in the prefrontal cortex after TBG dosing. They then used lasers to erase those spines.

“When we erased those spines, the antidepressant effect went away,” Olson said. 

Previously, this kind of experiment was conducted with ketamine to demonstrate that its sustained antidepressant-like properties required the growth of these dendritic spines.

“This is the first time that we’ve done this with a serotonergic agent,” Olson said. “And we find that cortical neuroplasticity is at least responsible for some of the compound’s antidepressant-like effects.” 

Similarities and differences

While 5-MeO-DMT and TBG boasted similarities in their effects on neuroplasticity, there were critical differences. Unlike 5-MeO-DMT, TBG didn’t promote bursts of glutamate or turn on immediate early genes — genes long thought to be critical for the neuroplasticity-promoting effects of psychedelics. 

“It was kind of shocking that TBG promoted plasticity, but the glutamate burst and immediate early genes were not required,” Olson said. The team used a combination of whole brain imaging and single-nucleus RNA sequencing to profile gene expression patterns following treatment with 5-MeO-DMT and TBG. “What we found is that glutamate bursts and immediate early gene expression are probably more related to the hallucinogenic properties of psychedelics rather than their plasticity-promoting effects.”

“Science is full of surprises,” said Gray. “There is still so much we don’t know about how psychedelics impact the brain, and it feels like we learn something new every day.”

 Additional co-authors include Isak K. Aarrestad, Lindsay P. Cameron, Ethan M. Fenton, Austen B. Casey, Daniel R. Rijsketic, Seona D. Patel, Rohini Sambyal, Shane B. Johnson, Calvin Ly, Jayashri Viswanathan, Eden V. Barragan, Stephanie A. Lozano, Nicolas Seban, Hongru Hu, Noel A. Powell, Milan Chytil, Retsina Meyer, David Rose, Chris Hempel, Eric Olson, Hanne D. Hansen, Clara A. Madsen, Gitte M. Knudsen, Chase Redd, Damian G. Wheeler, Nathaniel Guanzon, Jessie Muir, Joseph J. Hennessey, Gerald Quon, John D. McCorvy, Sunil P. Gandhi, Kurt Rasmussen, Conor Liston, John A. Gray, Boris D. Heifets, Alex S. Nord and Christina K. Kim.

The research reported here was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, a Hellman Fellowship, the Boone Family Foundation, the WoodNext Foundation and a sponsored research agreement with Delix Therapeutics. Olson is co-founder and chief innovation officer of Delix Therapeutics.

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Journal

Nature Neuroscience

DOI

10.1038/s41593-025-02021-1 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

The psychoplastogen tabernanthalog induces neuroplasticity without proximate immediate early gene activation

Article Publication Date

4-Aug-2025

COI Statement

David Olson is co-founder and chief innovation officer of Delix Therapeutics.

 

New drug combo outperforms Tamiflu in fighting flu

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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A surprising new drug combo—including a compound found in chocolate—has outperformed Tamiflu in fighting the flu, according to a study published in PNAS. The mix of Theobromine and Arainosine proved far more effective against a range of flu strains, including drug-resistant versions of bird and swine flu. By targeting a key viral weakness, this breakthrough could lead to stronger, longer-lasting treatments—not just for the flu, but potentially for other viruses as well.

In a potential game-changer for how we treat the flu, scientists have unveiled a new drug pairing that outperforms Tamiflu—the most widely used anti-influenza medication—against even the deadliest flu strains, including bird(avian) and swine flu.

The surprising duo? One of them is Theobromine, a compound found in chocolate.

In a study recently published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led by Prof. Isaiah (Shy) Arkin, have developed a novel combination therapy that targets a key weakness in the influenza virus: its ion channel, a microscopic gate the virus uses to replicate and spread. By blocking this gate, the team effectively cut off the virus’s ability to survive.

Their study, conducted at Israel’s new Barry Skolnick Biosafety Level 3 facility, tested this combo—Theobromine and a lesser-known compound called Arainosine—against a broad range of flu viruses. In both cell cultures and animal trials, the treatment dramatically outperformed Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), especially against drug-resistant strains.

“We’re not just offering a better flu drug,” said Prof. Arkin. “We’re introducing a new way to target viruses—one that may help us prepare for future pandemics.”

Why It Matters

The stakes are high: Influenza continues to sweep the globe each year, with unpredictable mutations that challenge vaccines and existing drugs. In the U.S. alone, seasonal flu costs an estimated $87 billion annually in healthcare and lost productivity. Past pandemics—like the 2009 swine flu—have inflicted even deeper global costs, and the cost of future pandemics was estimated to rise even further up to $4.4 trillion.

Meanwhile, outbreaks of avian flu have devastated poultry industries and sparked fears of cross-species transmission to humans. Just one recent outbreak in the U.S. led to the loss of 40 million birds and billions in economic damage.

Current flu treatments, like Tamiflu, are losing ground as the virus adapts. Most drugs in use target a viral protein that mutates frequently, rendering treatments less effective over time. That’s where Arkin’s team saw an opening.

A New Strategy for Old Viruses

Instead of fighting the virus head-on with traditional antivirals, the researchers zeroed in on the M2 ion channel—a crucial viral feature that helps the virus replicate. Past efforts to block this channel have largely failed due to drug resistance. But the new Theobromine-Arainosine combo sidesteps this resistance, even neutralizing hard-to-treat strains.

The team discovered the combo by scanning a library of repurposed compounds—many originally developed for other diseases—and testing their effects on both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant versions of the virus.

Broader Implications

The implications extend beyond influenza. Because many viruses—including coronaviruses and others—also rely on ion channels, this new approach could form the basis of future antiviral strategies.

The next steps include human clinical trials, but the early results offer hope not just for a better flu treatment, but for a smarter way to fight viral disease in general. ViroBlock, a startup company emanating from the Hebrew University, has been entrusted to develop the discoveries to reach the public.

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Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2502240122 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

A Bacteria-Based Search for Drugs Against Avian and Swine Flu Yields a Potent and Resistance-Resilient Channel Blocker

Article Publication Date

1-Aug-2025