Search results for "Ecology and Environmental Sciences"
showing 8 items of 88 documents
Self-Efficacy, Planning, or a Combination of Both? A Longitudinal Experimental Study Comparing Effects of Three Interventions on Adolescents’ Body Fat
2016
Author(s): Luszczynska, Aleksandra; Hagger, Martin S; Banik, Anna; Horodyska, Karolina; Knoll, Nina; Scholz, Urte | Abstract: BackgroundThe superiority of an intervention combining two sets of theory-based behavior change techniques targeting planning and self-efficacy over an intervention targeting planning only or self-efficacy only has rarely been investigated.PurposeWe compared the influence of self-efficacy, planning, and self-efficacy+planning interventions with an education-based control condition on adolescents' body fat, assuming mediating effects of respective social cognitive variables and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The moderating role of the built environment…
Large-scale effects of migration and conflict in pre-agricultural groups: Insights from a dynamic model.
2016
The debate on the causes of conflict in human societies has deep roots. In particular, the extent of conflict in hunter-gatherer groups remains unclear. Some authors suggest that large-scale violence only arose with the spreading of agriculture and the building of complex societies. To shed light on this issue, we developed a model based on operatorial techniques simulating population-resource dynamics within a two-dimensional lattice, with humans and natural resources interacting in each cell of the lattice. The model outcomes under different conditions were compared with recently available demographic data for prehistoric South America. Only under conditions that include migration among c…
Past aquatic environments in the Levant inferred from stable isotope compositions of carbonate and phosphate in fish teeth
2019
Here we explore the carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of the co-existing carbonate and phosphate fractions of fish tooth enameloid as a tool to reconstruct past aquatic fish environments and harvesting grounds. The enameloid oxygen isotope compositions of the phosphate fraction (δ18OPO4) vary by as much as ~4‰ for migratory marine fish such as gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), predominantly reflecting the different saline habitats it occupies during its life cycle. The offset in enameloid Δ18OCO3-PO4 values of modern marine Sparidae and freshwater Cyprinidae from the Southeast Mediterranean region vary between 8.1 and 11.0‰, similar to values reported for modern sharks. The mean δ13C …
Research focusing on plant performance in constructed wetlands and agronomic application of treated wastewater – A set of experimental studies in Sic…
2019
Constructed wetlands are sustainable technologies for the treatment of wastewater. These biological systems have been widely studied throughout the world for more than 30 years; however, most studies have focused on the effects of design and engineering on pollutant removal from wastewater. Undoubtedly, agro-technical aspects have been given too little consideration by research. This paper reports the main results of a set of experiments carried out on two pilot horizontal subsurface flow systems in Sicily (Italy). Festuca, Lolium and Pennisetum spp. in combination and three emergent macrophytes-Arundo donax L., Cyperus alternifolius L. and Typha latifolia L.-alone, were assessed. The aim o…
Carbon stock increases up to old growth forest along a secondary succession in Mediterranean island ecosystems.
2019
The occurrence of old-growth forests is quite limited in Mediterranean islands, which have been subject to particularly pronounced human impacts. Little is known about the carbon stocks of such peculiar ecosystems compared with different stages of secondary succession. We investigated the carbon variation in aboveground woody biomass, in litter and soil, and the nitrogen variation in litter and soil, in a 100 years long secondary succession in Mediterranean ecosystems. A vineyard, three stages of plant succession (high maquis, maquis-forest, and forest-maquis), and an old growth forest were compared. Soil samples at two soil depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm), and two litter types, relatively undec…
How subtle is the "terroir" effect? Chemistry-related signatures of two "climats de Bourgogne".
2014
The chemical composition of grape berries is influenced by various environmental conditions often considered to be representative of a "terroir". If grapes from a given terroir are assumed to reflect this origin in their chemical compositions, the corresponding wine should also reflect it. The aim of this work was therefore to reveal the "terroir" expression within the chemodiversity of grapes and related wines, using ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry. Grapes and corresponding wines, from two distinct - though very proximate - terroirs of Burgundy were analyzed over three vintages (2010, 2011 and 2012). Ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry and ultra-high performan…
The Largest Subunit of RNA Polymerase II as a New Marker Gene to Study Assemblages of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in the Field
2014
Due to the potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, Glomeromycota) to improve plant growth and soil quality, the influence of agricultural practice on their diversity continues to be an important research question. Up to now studies of community diversity in AMF have exclusively been based on nuclear ribosomal gene regions, which in AMF show high intra-organism polymorphism, seriously complicating interpretation of these data. We designed specific PCR primers for 454 sequencing of a region of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II gene, and established a new reference dataset comprising all major AMF lineages. This gene is known to be monomorphic within fungal isolates but shows an…
Hazardous air pollutants and primary liver cancer in Texas.
2016
The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common primary liver cancer, is increasing in the US and tripled during the past two decades. The reasons for such phenomenon remain poorly understood. Texas is among continental states with the highest incidence of liver cancer with an annual increment of 5.7%. Established risk factors for HCC include Hepatitis B and C (HBV, HCV) viral infection, alcohol, tobacco and suspected risk factors include obesity and diabetes. While distribution of these risk factors in the state of Texas is similar to the national data and homogeneous, the incidence of HCC in this state is exceptionally higher than the national average and appears to be di…