Iskanje po repozitoriju

A+ | A- | | SLO | ENG

Povzetek: Agricultural intensification and associated loss of high-quality habitats are key drivers of insect pollinator declines. With the aim of decreasing the environmental impact of agriculture, the 2014 EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) defined a set of habitat and landscape features (Ecological Focus Areas: EFAs) farmers could select from as a requirement to receive basic farm payments. To inform the post-2020 CAP, we performed a European-scale evaluation to determine how different EFA options vary in their potential to support insect pollinators under standard and pollinator-friendly management, as well as the extent of farmer uptake. A structured Delphi elicitation process engaged 22 experts from 18 European countries to evaluate EFAs options. By considering life cycle requirements of key pollinating taxa (i.e. bumble bees, solitary bees and hoverflies), each option was evaluated for its potential to provide forage, bee nesting sites and hoverfly larval resources. EFA options varied substantially in the resources they were perceived to provide and their effectiveness varied geographically and temporally. For example, field margins provide relatively good forage throughout the season in Southern and Eastern Europe but lacked early-season forage in Northern and Western Europe. Under standard management, no single EFA option achieved high scores across resource categories and a scarcity of late season forage was perceived. Experts identified substantial opportunities to improve habitat quality by adopting pollinator-friendly management. Improving management alone was, however, unlikely to ensure that all pollinator resource requirements were met. Our analyses suggest that a combination of poor management, differences in the inherent pollinator habitat quality and uptake bias towards catch crops and nitrogen-fixing crops severely limit the potential of EFAs to support pollinators in European agricultural landscapes. Policy Implications. To conserve pollinators and help protect pollination services, our expert elicitation highlights the need to create a variety of interconnected, well-managed habitats that complement each other in the resources they offer. To achieve this the Common Agricultural Policy post-2020 should take a holistic view to implementation that integrates the different delivery vehicles aimed at protecting biodiversity (e.g. enhanced conditionality, eco-schemes and agri-environment and climate measures). To improve habitat quality we recommend an effective monitoring framework with target-orientated indicators and to facilitate the spatial targeting of options collaboration between land managers should be incentivised.
Ključne besede: agri-environment schemes, bees, CAP Green Architecture, Common Agricultural Policy, Ecological Focus Areas, habitat complementarity, pollination services, pollinator conservation
Objavljeno v DiRROS: 22.07.2024; Ogledov: 296; Prenosov: 316
Celotno besedilo (1,44 MB)
Gradivo ima več datotek! Več...

Povzetek: In genetic toxicology, there is a trend against the increased use of in vivo models as highlighted by the 3R strategy, thus encouraging the development and implementation of alternative models. Two-dimensional (2D) hepatic cell models, which are generally used for studying the adverse effects of chemicals and consumer products, are prone to giving misleading results. On the other hand, newly developed hepatic three-dimensional (3D) cell models provide an attractive alternative, which, due to improved cell interactions and a higher level of liver-specific functions, including metabolic enzymes, reflect in vivo conditions more accurately. We developed an in vitro 3D cell model from the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell line. The spheroids were cultured under static conditions and characterised by monitoring their growth, morphology, and cell viability during the time of cultivation. A time-dependent suppression of cell division was observed. Cell cycle analysis showed time-dependent accumulation of cells in the G0/G1 phase. Moreover, time-dependent downregulation of proliferation markers was shown at the mRNA level. Genes encoding hepatic markers, metabolic phase I/II enzymes, were time-dependently deregulated compared to monolayers. New knowledge on the characteristics of the 3D cell model is of great importance for its further development and application in the safety assessment of chemicals, food products, and complex mixtures.
Objavljeno v DiRROS: 22.07.2024; Ogledov: 251; Prenosov: 196
Celotno besedilo (2,24 MB)
Gradivo ima več datotek! Več...

Povzetek: The comet assay is a widely used test for the detection of DNA damage and repair activity. However, there are interlaboratory differences in reported levels of baseline and induced damage in the same experimental systems. These differences may be attributed to protocol differences, although it is difficult to identify the relevant conditions because detailed comet assay procedures are not always published. Here, we present a Consensus Statement for the Minimum Information for Reporting Comet Assay (MIRCA) providing recommendations for describing comet assay conditions and results. These recommendations differentiate between ‘desirable’ and ‘essential’ information: ‘essential’ information refers to the precise details that are necessary to assess the quality of the experimental work, whereas ‘desirable’ information relates to technical issues that might be encountered when repeating the experiments. Adherence to MIRCA recommendations should ensure that comet assay results can be easily interpreted and independently verified by other researchers.
Objavljeno v DiRROS: 22.07.2024; Ogledov: 307; Prenosov: 204
Celotno besedilo (943,87 KB)
Gradivo ima več datotek! Več...

Povzetek: Purpose Evidence for the association between chocolate intake and risk of chronic diseases is inconclusive. Therefore, we aimed to synthesize and evaluate the credibility of evidence on the dose-response association between chocolate consumption with risk of all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, heart failure (HF), type 2 diabetes (T2D), colorectal cancer (CRC), and hypertension. Methods Prospective studies were searched until July 2018 in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. Random-effects meta-analyses comparing highest versus lowest intake categories, linear, and non-linear dose-response analyses were conducted. The credibility of evidence was evaluated with the NutriGrade scoring-system. Results Overall, 27 investigations were identified (n = 2 for all-cause mortality, n = 9 for CHD, n = 8 for stroke, n = 6 for HF, n = 6 for T2D, n = 2 for hypertension and CRC, respectively). No associations with HF (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.94, 1.04) and T2D (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.88, 1.01) per each 10 g/day increase in chocolate intake were observed in the linear dose-response meta-analyses. However, a small inverse association for each 10 g/daily increase could be shown for the risk of CHD (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93, 0.99), and stroke (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.82, 0.98). The credibility of evidence was rated either very low (all-cause mortality, HF, T2D, CRC or hypertension) or low (CHD, stroke). Conclusion Chocolate consumption is not related to risk for several chronic diseases, but could have a small inverse association with CHD and stroke. Our findings are limited by very low or low credibility of evidence, highlighting important uncertainty for chocolate–disease associations.
Ključne besede: chocolate, meta-analysis, dose-response, credibility of evidence, chronic diseases
Objavljeno v DiRROS: 22.07.2024; Ogledov: 267; Prenosov: 198
Celotno besedilo (686,65 KB)
Gradivo ima več datotek! Več...

Povzetek: The west coast of Tangier, in northern Morocco, has been affected by industrial wastewater discharge that reaches the ocean through the Boukhalef river. Therefore, the Jbila and Sidikacem beaches near to the Boukhalef river mouth have been classified as polluted for many years. With the aim of determining the COVID-19 pandemic consequences on the Tangier coastal environment, a linear model using Sentinel 3 water surface temperature (WST) has been tested in several locations. Data from April 2019 and April 2020, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic related emergency status in Morocco, were compared. The results from April 2019 showed high WST values and consequently, the poorest water quality in the sites closest to the Boukhalef river mouth. On the other hand, the results from April 2020 showed normal WST values and high water quality in the same study area. These results illustrate the usefulness of Sentinel 3 WST for the estimation of bathing water quality on the west coast of Tangier. The study shows the positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic consequences on the coastal environment quality in the study area and indicates the importance of decreasing the industrial discharge on the west coast of Tangier. The same methodology could be used in decision-making processes and to reduce cost, time and human resources for coastal monitoring systems. We demonstrate the potential of using the Sentinel 3 data for coastal waters monitoring, as well as the need for stricter controls of pollutant discharges into the world’s rivers.
Ključne besede: COVID-19, Sentinel 3, WST, Tangier west coast, coastal waters, bathing waters, industrial activities
Objavljeno v DiRROS: 22.07.2024; Ogledov: 294; Prenosov: 210
Celotno besedilo (5,70 MB)
Gradivo ima več datotek! Več...