Predicting species dominance shifts across elevation gradients in mountain forests in Greece under a warmer and drier climate

Regional Environmental Change - The Mediterranean Basin is expected to face warmer and drier conditions in the future, following projected increases in temperature and declines in precipitation....     

Relation between pesticide exposure and intrauterine growth retardation

The increased use of organophosphorus insecticides in agriculture and their widespread existence in the environment poses a potential health hazard. To determine the relationship between exposure to pesticides and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), live newborns from singleton pregnancies, with (n = 79) and without (n = 292) IUGR were studied. During the gestational period the mothers were living in agricultural communities in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Exposure to agrochemical products was evaluated. A significant association between the history of positive exposure to pesticides (i.e. the women themselves or their newborns who showed acetylcholinesterase activity levels lower than 20%) and the presence of IUGR was found. The proportions of exposure in the cases were 18% and 8% in the control group; the adjusted OR (fat free mass, anti-cytomegalovirus antibodies and placental weight) was 2.33 (p = 0.04).     

Performance of mortars with PET

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The massive amount of plastic production inevitably leads to huge levels of pollution and, consequently, is threatening the environment and...     

Spatial Patterns of Land Use Changes Across a Mediterranean Metropolitan Landscape: Implications for Biodiversity Management

Land use and land cover change (LUCC) is an acknowledged cause of the current biodiversity crisis, but the link between LUCC and biodiversity conservation remains largely unknown at the regional scale, especially due to the traditional lack of consistent biodiversity data. We provide a methodological approach for assessing this link through defining a set of major pressures on biodiversity from LUCC and evaluating their extent, distribution, and association with a set of physical factors. The study was performed in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (MRB, NE of Spain) between 1956 and 2000. We generated a LUCC map for the time period, which was reclassified into a set of pressures on biodiversity (forestation, deforestation, crop abandonment, and urbanization). We then explored the association of these pressures with a set of physical factors using redundancy analysis (RDA). Pressures encompassed 38.8 % of the MRB area. Urbanization and forestation were the dominating pressures, followed by crop abandonment and deforestation. RDA showed a significant distribution gradient of these pressures in relation to the studied physical factors: while forestation and deforestation are concentrated in remote mountain areas, urbanization mainly occurs in lowlands and especially on the coast, and close to previous urban centers and roads. Unchanged areas are concentrated in rainy and relatively remote mountain areas. Results also showed a dramatic loss of open habitats and of the traditional land use gradient, both featuring Mediterranean landscapes and extremely important for their biodiversity conservation. Implications of these results for biodiversity management are finally discussed.     

The solitary median maxillary central incisor (SMMCI) syndrome: Associations,prenatal diagnosis,and outcomes

Solitary median maxillary central incisor (SMMCI) syndrome is a complex disorder consisting of multiple, developmental defects involving midline structures of the head, which includes the cranial bones, the maxilla, and its container dentition (specifically the central incisor tooth germ), together with other midline structures of the body. SMMCI may appear as an isolated trait or in association with other midline developmental anomalies. We describe the case of a patient with SMMCI. He presented with a solitary median maxillary incisor, short stature, corpus callosum anomalies and a microform of holoprosencephaly (HPE), diabetes insipidus, and neurodevelopmental delay. The diagnosis was performed postnatally based on clinical features, radiological imaging, and a comprehensive genetic study. SMMCI can be diagnosed during the prenatal or neonatal periods or during infancy. Evaluation of the superior maxillary bone is important for prenatal diagnosis. Direct evaluation through bidimensional ultrasound or the use of multiplanar ultrasound or tridimensional reconstruction should be performed in cases of brain or face malformations. Early diagnosis can contribute to improved prenatal assessment and postnatal management.     

Evaluating Post-Fire Forest Resilience Using GIS and Multi-Criteria Analysis: An Example from Cape Sounion National Park,Greece

Forest fires are one of the major causes of ecological disturbance in the mediterranean climate ecosystems of the world. Despite the fact that a lot of resources have been invested in fire prevention and suppression, the number of fires occurring in the Mediterranean Basin in the recent decades has continued to markedly increase. The understanding of the relationship between landscape and fire lies, among others, in the identification of the system’s post-fire resilience. In our study, ecological and landscape data are integrated with decision-support techniques in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) framework to evaluate the risk of losing post-fire resilience in Pinus halepensis forests, using Cape Sounion National Park, Central Greece, as a pilot case. The multi-criteria decision support approach has been used to synthesize both bio-indicators (woody cover, pine density, legume cover and relative species richness and annual colonizers) and geo-indicators (fire history, parent material, and slope inclination) in order to rank the landscape components. Judgments related to the significance of each factor were incorporated within the weights coefficients and then integrated into the multicriteria rule to map the risk index. Sensitivity analysis was very critical for assessing the contribution of each factor and the sensitivity to subjective weight judgments to the final output. The results of this study include a final ranking map of the risk of losing resilience, which is very useful in identifying the “risk hotspots”, where post-fire management measures should be applied in priority.     

Evaluation of Fenton and ozone-based advanced oxidation processes as mature landfill leachate pre-treatments

Fenton treatment (Fe²⁺/H₂O₂) and different ozone-based Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) (O₃, O₃/OH⁻ and O₃/H₂O₂) were evaluated as pre-treatment of a mature landfill leachate, in order to improve the biodegradability of its recalcitrant organic matter for subsequent biological treatment. With a two-fold diluted leachate, at optimised experimental conditions (initial pH 3, H₂O₂ to Fe²⁺ molar ratio of 3, Fe²⁺ dosage of 4 mmol L⁻¹, and reaction time of 40 min) Fenton treatment removed about 46% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and increased the five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅) to COD ratio (BOD₅/COD) from 0.01 to 0.15. The highest removal efficiency and biodegradability was achieved by ozone at higher pH values, solely or combined with H₂O₂. These results confirm the enhanced production of hydroxyl radical under such conditions. After the application for 60 min of ozone at 5.6 g O₃ h⁻¹, initial pH 7, and 400 mg L⁻¹ of hydrogen peroxide, COD removal efficiency was 72% and BOD₅/COD increased from 0.01 to 0.24. An estimation of the operating costs of the AOPs processes investigated revealed that Fe²⁺/H₂O₂ was the most economical system (8.2 € m⁻³ g⁻¹ of COD removed) to treat the landfill leachate. This economic study, however, should be treated with caution since it does not consider the initial investment, prices at plant scale, maintenance and labour costs.     

Biomonitoring approach with mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lmk) and clam Ruditapes philippinarum (Adams and Reeve, 1850) in the Lagoon of Venice

Transplanted Mytilus galloprovincialis and native Ruditapes philippinarum were deployed in 10 sampling stations with different pollution impact within the Lagoon of Venice to evaluate the temporal variations and the suitability of the following cytochemical and histochemical biomarkers just as indicators of environmental stress: lysosomal membrane stability, lipofuscins, neutral lipids and lysosome to cytoplasm volume ratio. The physiological status of the organisms was also investigated by determining the survival in air capability and the reburrowing rate (clams). The biological parameters were assessed in June and October. Furthermore, for a better definition of the environmental aspects of the study sites, heavy metal, PAH and PCB concentrations were also evaluated in the sediments. As a whole, the biological responses examined in both species from all the sampling sites showed significant differences between the two seasonal campaigns, only lysosomal membrane stability exhibited less variability. Pollutants in sediments generally showed low-intermediate contamination levels, few hotspots persisting mostly in the inner areas of the lagoon, the most influenced by the industrial zone. Transplanted mussels were more responsive than native clams and the biological responses of both species varied temporally. The range of the spatial variability was always narrow and reflected only partially the broader variability shown by the chemical content in the sediments. In this sense, biological responses seemed to be particularly influenced by the high temporal and spatial heterogeneity that characterise the Lagoon of Venice, as well as most of the transitional environments.     

Management of domoic acid monitoring in shellfish from the Catalan coast

Monitoring of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) toxins in shellfish from the Catalan coast started in 2001. No ASP toxins were detected in any of the analyses performed before 2008. On 22 January 2008, domoic acid (DA) was detected in Donax trunculus (0.5 mg?kg^?1) and confirmed by rapid resolution liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (0.6 mg?kg^?1). A total of 974 shellfish samples were analyzed from January 2008 to December 2011, covering all the Catalan production areas and the most important marketed species. DA was detected in 23.8 % of the samples and was recorded every month in all areas and all species, except Ostrea edulis, although the percentage of samples with DA and DA content varied widely among samples. DA exceeded the regulatory level of 20 mg?kg^?1 twice: in Callista chione sampled on February 2008 and in D. trunculus sampled on April 2010. DA content in Bolinus brandaris appeared constant and close to 4.5 mg?kg^?1 for months in 2009. Mytilus galloprovincialis, Crassostrea gigas, and Ruditapes sp. presented very low concentrations of DA in the Ebro Delta bays, despite 113 alert situations according to Pseudo-nitzschia spp. abundances and the high number of shellfish samples analyzed. The origin of DA in Catalan shellfish remains unknown.