The cost of environmental degradation (COED) report focuses on Georgia’s coastal zone. Georgia’s coastal zone is crucial to the national economy but has been affected by substantial environmental degradation. This report estimates the impact of degradation that occurred in 2017, as a result of pollution, flooding, coastal erosion, and agricultural soil and forest degradation in eight of coastal Georgia’s municipalities. Economic values are expressed in 2017 prices. This study is a first attempt to estimate the COED of Georgia’s coastal zone and so features some uncertainties regarding data and information used for cost estimates. Therefore, estimates of this report provide an order of magnitude of the COED for selected areas affected by degradation. Raising awareness of the magnitude of coastal degradation is a critical step towards enacting positive change. Therefore, this report focuses on coastal Georgia’s eight municipalities, estimating, in monetary terms, the COED in 2017. Estimates provide an indication of the real magnitude of damage and of the urgency of action needed to protect Georgia’s coastal zone. The report is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two provides an overview of the methods used for estimating the COED and covers the report limitations. Chapter three reports estimate of costs related to pollution, chapter four addresses the cost of flooding and coastal erosion, while chapter five analyzes costs associated with soil and forest degradation. Chapter six qualifies potential risks due to climate change in the coastal zone of Georgia. Chapter seven outlines some recommendations that Georgia may take to reduce annual degradation costs.

The cost of environmental degradation (COED) report focuses on Georgia’s coastal zone. Georgia’s coastal zone is crucial to the national economy but has been affected by substantial environmental degradation. This report estimates the impact of degradation that occurred in 2017, as a result of pollution, flooding, coastal erosion, and agricultural soil and forest degradation in eight of coastal Georgia’s municipalities. Economic values are expressed in 2017 prices. This study is a first attempt to estimate the COED of Georgia’s coastal zone and so features some uncertainties regarding data and information used for cost estimates. Therefore, estimates of this report provide an order of magnitude of the COED for selected areas affected by degradation. Raising awareness of the magnitude of coastal degradation is a critical step towards enacting positive change. Therefore, this report focuses on coastal Georgia’s eight municipalities, estimating, in monetary terms, the COED in 2017. Estimates provide an indication of the real magnitude of damage and of the urgency of action needed to protect Georgia’s coastal zone. The report is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two provides an overview of the methods used for estimating the COED and covers the report limitations. Chapter three reports estimate of costs related to pollution, chapter four addresses the cost of flooding and coastal erosion, while chapter five analyzes costs associated with soil and forest degradation. Chapter six qualifies potential risks due to climate change in the coastal zone of Georgia. Chapter seven outlines some recommendations that Georgia may take to reduce annual degradation costs.

Obesity is an increasing public health concern both in the developed and developing countries. Previous studies have demonstrated that considerable alterations in lipid metabolism and consequently marked changes in lipid profile are associated with the onset and progression of obesity-related complications. To characterize the full spectrum of obesity-induced changes in lipid metabolism, direct infusion tandem mass spectrometry analysis is the most promising approach. To better understand which of the many lipid species are the most strongly associated with obesity, the aim of our work was to measure and profile plasma lipids in normal (<i>n</i> = 57), overweight (<i>n</i> = 31), and obese (<i>n</i> = 48) individuals randomly selected from samples of Hungarian general and Roma populations by using the targeted quantitative lipidomics platform, the Lipidyzer. Principal component and stepwise regression analyses were used to identify the most significant clusters and species of lipids by increasing body mass index (BMI). From the 18 clusters identified four key lipid species (PE P-16:0/20:3, TG 20:4_33:1, TG 22:6_36:4, TG 18:3_33:0) showed a strong significant positive and three others (Hex-Cer 18:1;O2/22:0, LPC 18:2, PC 18:1_18:1) significant negative association with BMI. Compared to individual lipid species alone, the lipid species ratio (LSR) we introduced showed an extremely strong, at least 9 orders of magnitude stronger, association with BMI. The LSR can be used as a sensitive and predictive indicator to monitor obesity-related alterations in human plasma and control the effectiveness of treatment of obesity associated non-communicable diseases.

The tropical arboreal species Brazilian mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) is very important economically and ecologically, for which understanding ecophysiological variables such as sap flow will improve understanding of the species and its cultivation. This paper aims to measure uncertainties (U) involved in the application of the heat ratio method for determining sap flow in Brazilian mahogany using sets of heating probes and thermometers installed on plants of 18 months of age, cultivated in Yellow Latosol, under a weighing lysimeter and located in a protected environment. The uncertainty in sap flow was calculated as the combination of uncertainty in the thermal diffusivity (Uₖ), conductive section (USc) and corrected sap velocity (UVc). Uₖ had greater weight in determining the flow of sap in Brazilian mahogany, when compared to USc and UVc. The thermal diffusivity during the cycle, or period evaluated, must be adjusted to improve the accuracy of the heat ratio method because the sap flow overestimated transpiration by 15.0%. When soil water was optimal In addition, the vapor pressure deficit linearly and indirectly influenced the SF with a difference of 14.6%.

Glycine is involved in a wide range of metabolic pathways and increased circulating glycine is associated with reduced risk of cardio-metabolic diseases in Europeans but the genetic association between circulating glycine and cardiovascular risk is largely unknown in East Asians.We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in Singaporean Chinese participants and investigated if genetically determined serum glycine were associated with incident coronary artery disease (CAD) (711 cases and 1,246 controls), cardiovascular death (1,886 cases and 21,707 controls) and angiographic CAD severity (as determined by the Modified Gensini score, N = 1,138).Our study, a first in East Asians, suggest a protective role of glycine against CAD.

Rapidly altering vegetation dynamics, is an aspect of global environmental change which has consequences for ecosystem structure, function, and the provision of ecosystem services. However, the responses of vegetation greenness and vegetation productivity to environmental changes may be inconsistent. Currently, we do not know how these inconsistent trends of greenness and productivity vary across the globe, nor the main causes of that variability. We used leaf area index (LAI) and net primary productivity (NPP) to represent vegetation greenness and productivity, respectively. The results showed that about 42% of the global vegetated area showed inconsistent trends of LAI and NPP from 2000 to 2015. These inconsistent trends were mainly found in humid areas. A parabolic relationship was found between the NPP and LAI of global vegetation, with a turning point in LAI of global vegetation of 4.5 ± 0.4 m² m⁻². The ratio of NPP to LAI (NPP/LAI), net primary production per unit leaf area, decreases as the LAI increases. The variability of NPP/LAI is significantly correlated with the consistency of NPP and LAI changes in different land cover types. NPP/LAI is lower in tree-dominated biomes with higher canopies (such as forests), and higher in areas dominated by short vegetation (such as shrubland and grassland). Drylands have higher NPP/LAI than humid regions which are perhaps due to high rates of net photosynthesis and narrow leaves. The results of this study not only clearly portray the relationship between vegetation greenness and productivity but also help us to understand the impact of vegetation dynamics on global carbon cycling in a changing environment.

Introduction: Today olive oil is widely produced and consumed in different countries due to its good taste and valuable nutritional properties (Moldao-Martins et al. 2004). Olive oil fatty acid profiles consist of saturated fatty acids (about 11%), monounsaturated fatty acids (in particular oleic acid) (about 80%), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (approximately 9%). In addition, olive oil contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds such as squalene, phytosterol, tocopherols, polyphenols, aromatic compounds and coloring pigments (Rafehi et al. 2012; Hernaez et al. 2015). These compounds have important effects on human health, nutritional value, sensory properties and oil stability (Kalua et al. 2007). Based on definition provided by Iranian national standard (1446) olive oil is obtained solely from the fruit of the olive tree to the exclusion of oils obtained using solvents or re-esterification processes and of any mixture with other kind of oil. It is marketed in accordance with the following designations and definitions: virgin olive oils, refined olive oil, olive-pomace oil and olive oil. Virgin olive oils are more expensive than other kind of olive oils because of their good taste and good nutritional values; therefore sometimes virgin olive oil sold is adulterated, cut with poor quality olive oil or cheaper oils such as sunflower and soybean oil (Moreda et al. 2003). Recently, there is a suspicion among consumers and regulatory agencies that some manufacturers (to increase their profits) have labeled lower quality olive oils as a virgin or extra virgin olive oil. A comprehensive study of food fraud over a 30-year period showed that the highest amount of food fraud was related to the olive oil. The study used scientific papers published between 1980 and 2010 (Moore et al. 2012). Therefore the aim of the current study was to investigate the properties of different types of olive oils (including virgin, refined and olive oil), distributed in the Iranian market. Material and methods: Total of 18 samples of olive oil including, virgin olive oil (5 samples), ordinary virgin (3 samples), refined olive oil (5 samples) and olive oil (5 samples) were collected from the market (Table 1). The samples were transferred to the laboratory and kept in the refrigerator (4 °C) until they were analyzed. physicochemical and qualitative experiments (including acidity, peroxide, moisture content, insoluble impurities, extinction coefficient (K270, K232, k)); and oil purity (including identification and determination of sis and trans fatty acid, sterols, erythrodiol and uvaol content, 2-glyceryl monopalmitate, unsaponifiable matter, and ECN 42) were determined. Each sample was tested three times and the results were reported as "mean±standard deviation". Physicochemical properties including acidity, peroxide, moisture and insoluble impurities were measured according to the national standards No 4178, 4179, 4291, and 4095 respectively. The extinction coefficient (K232, K270, K) was determined using a spectrophotometer (EU 2200, ONLAB). Fatty acid profile was determined according to standard No 13126 (2016). Oil samples were sterified in methanol solution (2 M) for 30 min at 50 °C and methyl ester of fatty acids were determined by gas chromatography (GC-Yung Lin 6500) equipped with flame ionization detector (FID). Nitrogen gas (at the flow rate of 4 ml/min) was used as the carrier gas. The ECN 42 was calculated based on Iranian National Standard No17379. The 2-monoglycerol palmitate was measured using a gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID). The chromatographic column used was DB-5 (15m*0.25mm*0.53µm). Sterol and triterpene dialcohol composition including, desmethylsterol composition (% total sterols), Total sterol content, and Erythrodiol and uvaol content were determined using GC based on method provided by Iranian national standard (ISIRI 16324). All obtained results for olive oils were subjected to statistical analysis using statistical software (Minitab, 17:0, PA., State College, USA). The significant differences between mean values were determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Post Hoc Tukey’s test. A probability value of 0.05 was used to determine the statistical significance. All data are reported as means ± standard deviations. Results and discussion: Results showed that 8 out of 18 samples (44%), did not comply with standard 1446 (at least in one of the specifications). In 4 samples (about 22%) acidity was higher than the maximum permitted level in national standard No 1446 (Table 2). Acidity is one of the important criteria in the classification of olive oil types. This characteristic indicates the quality of the fruit used for oil production and its production conditions. One reason for the increase in acidity is the activation of enzymes by damage to olive fruit (Zegane et al. 2015). All samples were in compliance with the national standard 1446 in terms of peroxide values, moisture content, volatiles compound, and extinction coefficients (Table 2). The results of insoluble impurities in light petroleum showed that in two samples of olive oil and one sample of refined oil this value was higher than the maximum permitted level set by Iranian national standard (Table 2). Unsaponifiable matter in all samples varied between 0.71 and 1.82 g/kg and was in agreeing with related standard (Table 5). The fatty acid profiles of the investigated olive oil samples (C16 to C20) are shown in Table 3. In all samples, oleic and palmitic acids were the most abundant fatty acids followed by linoleic and stearic acid, respectively. The highest mean oleic acid (72.04±2.2) was related to refined olive oil. The results of this study were in agreement with those of other researchers (Matthaus et al., 2011). The trans fatty acids were not detected in any of the samples. The results obtained for sterol and triterpene dialcohol composition including, desmethylsterol composition (% total sterols), Total sterol content (mg/kg), erythrodiol and uvaol content (% total sterols) are presented in Tables 4 and 5. Desmethylsterol is composed of cholesterol, brassicasterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, delta-7-stigmastenol, and apparent beta-sitosterol. In two oil samples (43 and 14), the amount of Brassica sterol was higher than the standard limit (maximum 0.1%), showing that the other vegetable oils may have been added to olive oil. Maximum difference between the actual and theoretical ECN 42 triacylglycerol content are presented inTable 5. Results showed in 3 out of 18 samples (about 17%) ΔECN 42 was higher than standard limit.In all 18 samples, the amount of 2-monoglycerol palmitate ranged from 0.1% to 0.8% and was in accordance with national standard 1446 (Table 5). Conclusion: Examination of 18 olive oil samples showed that olive oils distributed in the market, has an acceptable level of quality. The highest amount of non-conformity was related to the amount of sterols followed by acidity. Trans fatty acids were not detected in any of the samples.However, the characteristics studied in this study were not able to detect the virgin olive oil from those with lower quality (refined and olive oil). Therefore other experiments such as wax content and aliphatic alcohols are necessary to determine the small amount of olive pomace oil and stigmastadiene is needed to determine whether the olive oil is mixed with other vegetable oils. This study showed that it is difficult to distinguish between different types of olive oils and further research is necessary.

EC-LEDS research outputs produced by CCAFS and CIAT informed the Climate Change Plan for Agricultural Sector (PIGCCS-Ag) of Colombia, which was the policy instrument used to update Colombia's NDC.

The Shannon Estuary in Ireland is home to a resident population of bottlenose dolphins (<i>Tursiops truncatus</i>) and is designated as a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive. It is an important industrial area, with numerous deep-water berths for shipping. Despite its high conservation value, there are few published studies on habitat use or foraging behavior of the Shannon dolphins throughout the year. The present study assessed the year-round presence and foraging activity of bottlenose dolphins at different locations in the middle and inner estuary using static acoustic monitoring. Dolphin presence was found to decrease with increased distance from the estuary mouth, i.e., where the estuary meets the Atlantic Ocean, while at the same time, foraging was found to be considerably higher in the upriver areas, suggesting the inner estuary was an important foraging area. Model predictions for seasonal, tidal and diel foraging were highly variable across locations, indicating that changes in dolphin behavior occurred over relatively small geographical scales. These results indicate that conservation efforts should consider the Shannon Estuary as a dynamic aggregation of habitats and future development initiatives should attempt to mitigate disturbance to the dolphins during important foraging periods on seasonal and diel scales.

The seasonal signal determined by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which is captured in the coordinate time series, exhibits annual and semi-annual periods. This signal is frequently modelled by two periodic signals with constant amplitude and phase-lag. The purpose of this study is to explore the implication of different types of geophysical events on the seasonal signal in three stages—in the time span that contains the geophysical events, before and after the geophysical event, but also the stationarity phenomena, which is analysed on approximately 200 reference stations from the EPN network since 1995. The novelty of the article is demonstrated by correlating three different types of geophysical events, such as earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 6° on the Richter scale, landslides, and volcanic activity, and analysing the variation in amplitude of the seasonal signal. The geophysical events situated within a radius of 30 km from the epicentre showed a higher seasonal value than when the timespan did not contain a geophysical event. The presence of flicker and random walk noise was computed using overlapping Hadamard variance (OHVAR) and the non-stationary behaviour of the time series of the CORS coordinates in the time frequency analysis was done using continuous wavelet transform (CWT).