The impact of quad tourism: a preventive action for the Mediterranean

AbstractIn this work we use a regional atmosphere–ocean coupled model (RAOCM) and its stand-alone atmospheric component to gain insight into the impact of atmosphere–ocean coupling on the climate change signal over the Iberian Peninsula (IP). The IP climate is influenced by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean sea. Complex interactions with the orography take place there and high-resolution models are required to realistically reproduce its current and future climate. We find that under the RCP8.5 scenario, the generalized 2-m air temperature (T2M) increase by the end of the twenty-first century (2070–2099) in the atmospheric-only simulation is tempered by the coupling. The impact of coupling is specially seen in summer, when the warming is stronger. Precipitation shows regionally-dependent changes in winter, whilst a drier climate is found in summer. The coupling generally reduces the magnitude of the changes. Differences in T2M and precipitation between the coupled and uncoupled simulations are caused by changes in the Atlantic large-scale circulation and in the Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, the differences in projected changes of T2M and precipitation with the RAOCM under the RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 scenarios are tackled. Results show that in winter and summer T2M increases less and precipitation changes are of a smaller magnitude with the RCP4.5. Whilst in summer changes present a similar regional distribution in both runs, in winter there are some differences in the NW of the IP due to differences in the North Atlantic circulation. The differences in the climate change signal from the RAOCM and the driving Global Coupled Model show that regionalization has an effect in terms of higher resolution over the land and ocean.

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Sex-Related Differences in the Effects of the Mediterranean Diet on Glucose and Insulin Homeostasis

Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism ◽

10.1155/2014/424130 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Alexandra Bédard ◽

Louise Corneau ◽

Benoît Lamarche ◽

Sylvie Dodin ◽

Simone Lemieux

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Insulin Sensitivity ◽

Mediterranean Diet ◽

Sex Difference ◽

Premenopausal Women ◽

Nonesterified Fatty Acids ◽

Time Interaction ◽

Insulin Homeostasis ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact

Objective. To document sex differences in the impact of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) on glucose/insulin homeostasis and to verify whether these sex-related effects were associated with changes in nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA).Methods. All foods were provided to 38 men and 32 premenopausal women (24–53 y) during 4 weeks. Variables were measured during a 180 min OGTT before and after the MedDiet.Results. A sex-by-time interaction for plasma insulin iAUC was found (men: −17.8%,P=0.02; women: +9.4%,P=0.63;Pfor sex-by-time interaction = 0.005). A sex-by-time interaction was also observed for insulin sensitivity (Cederholm index,P=0.03), for which only men experienced improvements (men: +8.1%,P=0.047; women: −5.9%,P=0.94). No sex difference was observed for glucose and C-peptide responses. Trends toward a decrease in NEFA AUC (P=0.06) and an increase in NEFA suppression rate (P=0.06) were noted, with no sex difference. Changes in NEFA were not associated with change in insulin sensitivity.Conclusions. Results suggest that the more favorable changes in glucose/insulin homeostasis observed in men compared to women in response to the MedDiet are not explained by sex differences in NEFA response. This clinical trial is registered with clinicaltrials.govNCT01293344.

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Self-Perceived Physical Activity and Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in Healthy Adolescents during COVID-19: Findings from the DIMENU Pilot Study

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9060622 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 622

Author(s):

Angelo Galluccio ◽

Giovanna Caparello ◽

Ennio Avolio ◽

Emanuele Manes ◽

Simona Ferraro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Mediterranean Diet ◽

Eating Habits ◽

Wellness Programs ◽

Health Impact ◽

The Self ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

Mediterranean Diet Adherence ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact

The global pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resulted in restrictions which forced adolescents to stay at home and influenced their food habits and lifestyles with potential negative health impact. This study aims to investigate the self-reported physical activity (PA) and eating habits related to the consumption of Mediterranean foods in a sample of adolescents during the COVID-19 lockdown enrolled into the DIMENU study. A web survey was launched for 91 adolescents (aged 15–17 years) to assess their adherence to the Mediterranean Diet using the KIDMED test and lifestyle habits using a questionnaire designed following recommendations by Italian National Institute of Health (ISS score). Our results indicate that most of the sample declared no changes in eating habits and PA without sex differences. After dividing the sample into active and sedentary groups based on the self-perceived PA, we found that KIDMED and ISS scores were significantly higher (p = 0.0028 and p = 0.0001, respectively) in active adolescents. Moreover, KIDMED was positively correlated with ISS only in active adolescents (r = 0.311, p = 0.0185). In conclusion, our data underline the impact of the PA on the Mediterranean diet adherence in adolescents during the lockdown, suggesting the usefulness of promoting wellness programs directed towards inactive individuals to increase their awareness on the importance of healthy lifestyles.

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African dust outbreaks over the Mediterranean Basin during 2001–2011: PM<sub>10</sub> concentrations, phenomenology and trends, and its relation with synoptic and mesoscale meteorology

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-12-28195-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 28195-28235 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J. Pey ◽

X. Querol ◽

A. Alastuey ◽

F. Forastiere ◽

M. Stafoggia

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Basin ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Moderate Intensity ◽

Sharp Change ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

Mesoscale Meteorology ◽

Transitional Area ◽

African Dust ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The occurrence of African dust outbreaks over the whole Mediterranean Basin has been identified on an 11-yr period (2001–2011). In order to evaluate the impact of such mineral dust outbreaks on ambient concentrations of particulate matter, PM10 data from regional and suburban background sites across the Mediterranean area were compiled. After identifying the daily influence of African dust, a methodology for estimating natural dust contributions on daily PM10 concentrations was applied. Our results reveal that African dust outbreaks occur with much higher frequency in southern areas of the Mediterranean, from 30 to 37% of the annual days, whereas they take place less than 20% of the annual days in northern sites. The central Mediterranean emerges as a transitional area, with slightly higher frequency of dust episodes in its lower extreme when compared to equivalent areas in western and eastern sides of the Basin. A decreasing south to north gradient of African dust contribution to PM10 is patent across the Mediterranean. Our study demonstrates that this gradient may be mainly explained by the latitudinal position. A longitudinal increasing trend of African dust contribution to PM10 is also observed from 25° E eastwards, and is due to the annual occurrence of intense dust episodes. Thus, the slightly higher frequency of African dust episodes over the lower part of Central Mediterranean is compensated by its moderately lower intensity. Concerning seasonality patterns and intensity characteristics, a clear summer prevalence is observed in the western part, with low occurrence of severe episodes (daily dust averages over 100 μg m−3 in PM10); no seasonal trend is detected in the central region, with moderate-intensity episodes; and significantly higher contributions are common in autumn-spring in the eastern side, with yearly occurrence of various severe episodes. Overall, African dust emerges as the largest PM10 source in regional background southern areas of the Mediterranean (35–50% of PM10), with seasonal peak contributions to PM10 up to 80% of the total mass. The multi-year study of African dust episodes and their contributions to PM10 concentrations allowed us to identify a consistent decreasing trend in the period 2006/2007 to 2011 in 4 of the 17 studied regions, all of them located in the NW of the Mediterranean. The observed trend is almost parallel to the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) index for the summer period, progressively more negative since 2006 onwards. As a consequence, a sharp change in the atmospheric circulation over the last 5 yr (a similar negative NAO period occurred in the 1950 decade) have affected the number of African dust episodes and their mean contribution to PM10 in the NW part of the Mediterranean. The investigation of summer temperatures at 850 hPa suggest that warm air accomplishing African dust air masses moved anomalously through the central Mediterranean in the 2007–2008 period, whereas it was displaced atypically to the NW African coast and the Canary Islands in the 2009–2011 period.

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Factors determining the soil available water during the last two decades (1997–2019) in southern Spain

Arabian Journal of Geosciences ◽

10.1007/s12517-021-08265-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (19) ◽

Author(s):

José A. Sillero-Medina ◽

Jesús Rodrigo-Comino ◽

José D. Ruiz-Sinoga

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Content ◽

Southern Spain ◽

Retention Capacity ◽

Essential Information ◽

Hydrological Conditions ◽

Available Water ◽

Available Water Content ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact

AbstractAssessing soil hydrological conditions can provide essential information for understanding the environmental processes that affect ecosystem services and, particularly in the context of ongoing climate change. This is key in areas affected by water scarcity such as the Mediterranean belt. Therefore, the main goals of this research are (i) to assess the main rainfall dynamics and trends of some representative hotspots along with southern Spain and (ii) to determine the impact on the soil available water content (AWC) over the last two decades. An analysis of daily precipitation and soil hydrological conditions was combined with soil sampling (543) and laboratory analyses to evaluate the properties related to the soil infiltration and retention capacity. The results show that the organic factors control soil properties and their hydrodynamics in southern Spain. Furthermore, a general declining trend in soil water availability is observed over the last two decades. This is more extreme in arid and semi-arid areas, where there have been several years in the last decade with more than 200 days without the available water content. Moreover, in these areas, heavy rainfall during specific moments of the year is the key factor that manifests a greater incidence in areas with steeper slopes, which in turn, also conditions the biological factors and the hydrodynamics of the soil. In short, in the context of climate change, the analysis of soil hydrological dynamics could be used to identify biodiversity thresholds in the Mediterranean area and even to detect phenological changes in specific plant species.

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THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE IN ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Journal of Management ◽

10.38104/vadyba.2021.1.02 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 19-28

Author(s):

Endre Szabó ◽

Katinka Bajkai-Tóth ◽

Ildikó Rudnák ◽

Róbert Magda

Keyword(s):

Human Resources ◽

Organizational Performance ◽

Human Resource ◽

Automotive Industry ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Training System ◽

Preventive Action ◽

The Impact ◽

And Training

In the course of the research, we examined the impact of the selection and training system of a Hungarian automotive company on organizational performance, which together ensure the future development of the company. It contributes to the optimization of sales, purchasing and logistics processes, ensures customer satisfaction and the success of the company. In this fast-paced and globalized world, it is essential for companies to be aware that one of the most important factors of production is human resources themselves, whose proper selection and training are a key element in maintaining and developing economic competitiveness. Human resources play the biggest role in the operation of an economic organization. Process quality and process orientation reduce costs, increase profitability, and improve processes to always meet growing requirements. This is the basis of the quality strategy. Therefore, it consistently applies preventive quality assurance methods, learns from failures, eliminates the causes of mistakes without delays and transfers its experience to all areas of the company for preventive action. It is customer-oriented and strives for excellence in all areas, and thus makes it an obligation for everyone to aim for the highest level of customer service. Due to the special peculiarities and characteristics of the labor force, it cannot be compared to any of the production resources. Taking this as a basis, the human resource management used to be more of a functional purpose, while in recent decades human factors have become an essential source of competitiveness. The market operation and performance of an organization depends significantly on how we can select the most suitable workforce. We need to see what the strategic points that determine the role of HR are, and we are also looking for the answer in which direction the needs, expectations and professionalism given by the generational difference move the activities of human resources. The aim of the research is to get an answer to how the employees of one of the leading Hungarian players in the automotive industry perceive the importance of the selection and training of the workforce in maintaining and improving competitiveness. To this end, we used a semi-structured interview, with the help of which we evaluated the current selection and training processes in the light of competitiveness and made suggestions for the improvement and refinement of these processes.

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Introduction to the project DUNE, a DUst experiment in a low Nutrient, low chlorophyll Ecosystem

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-10-12491-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 12491-12527 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

C. Guieu ◽

F. Dulac ◽

C. Ridame ◽

P. Pondaven

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Atmospheric Deposition ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Surface Waters ◽

Carbon Pump ◽

Mesocosm Experiments ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Atmospheric Inputs ◽

Oligotrophic Ecosystem ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The main goal of the project DUNE was to estimate the impact of atmospheric deposition on an oligotrophic ecosystem based on mesocosm experiments simulating strong atmospheric inputs of Aeolian dust. Atmospheric deposition is now recognized as a significant source of macro- and micro-nutrients for the surface ocean, but the quantification of its role on the biological carbon pump is still poorly determined. We proposed in DUNE to investigate the role of atmospheric inputs on the functioning of an oligotrophic system particularly well adapted to this kind of study: the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea – etymologically, sea surrounded by land – is submitted to atmospheric inputs that are very variable both in frequency and intensity. During the thermal stratification period, only atmospheric deposition is prone to fertilize Mediterranean surface waters which has become very oligotrophic due to the nutrient depletion (after the spring bloom). This paper describes the objectives of DUNE and the implementation plan of a series of mesocosms experiments during which either wet or dry and a succession of two wet deposition fluxes of 10 g m−2 of Saharan dust have been simulated. After the presentation of the main biogeochemical initial conditions of the site at the time of each experiment, a general overview of the papers published in this special issue is presented, including laboratory results on the solubility of trace elements in erodible soils in addition to results from the mesocosm experiments. Our mesocosm experiments aimed at being representative of real atmospheric deposition events onto the surface of oligotrophic marine waters and were an original attempt to consider the vertical dimension in the study of the fate of atmospheric deposition within surface waters. Results obtained can be more easily extrapolated to quantify budgets and parameterize processes such as particle migration through a "captured water column". The strong simulated dust deposition events were found to impact the dissolved concentrations of inorganic dissolved phosphorus, nitrogen, iron and other trace elements. In the case of Fe, adsorption on sinking particles yields a decrease in dissolved concentration unless binding ligands were produced following a former deposition input and associated fertilization. For the first time, a quantification of the C export induced by the aerosol addition was possible. Description and parameterization of biotic (heterotrophs and autotrophs, including diazotrophs) and abiotic processes (ballast effect due to lithogenic particles) after dust addition in sea surface water, result in a net particulate organic carbon export in part controlled by the "lithogenic carbon pump".

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The impact of the Messinian Salinity Crisis on marine biota

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-5799 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Konstantina Agiadi ◽

Niklas Hohmann ◽

Giorgio Carnevale ◽

Elsa Gliozzi ◽

Constanza Faranda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Marine Mammals ◽

Planktonic Foraminifera ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Functional Change ◽

Marine Biota ◽

Messinian Salinity Crisis ◽

Marine Fauna ◽

Independent Evidence ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact

<p>The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) was the greatest paleoenvironmental perturbation the Mediterranean has ever seen. The literature is abundant in hypotheses on the repercussions of the MSC on organisms. However, all these are based on incomplete and still uncertain scenarios about the MSC evolution, as well as on the assumption that such a paleoenvironmental perturbation must have completely reset marine biota. Having prevailed for many decades now, this assumption has leaked from paleontology and geosciences to biological sciences, with numerous studies taking this scenario for granted instead of using it as a starting hypothesis to be tested. Here, we review and revise the marine fossil record across the Mediterranean from the Tortonian until the Zanclean to follow the current rules of nomenclature, correct misidentifications, and control for stratigraphic misplacements. We examine the composition of marine faunas, both taxonomically and considering the function of each group in the marine ecosystem and the transfer of energy through the marine food web. Specifically, we investigate the following functional groups: 1) primary producers, 2) secondary producers, 3) primary consumers, 4) secondary consumers, and 5) top predators. Our study includes sea grasses, phytoplankton, corals, benthic and planktonic foraminifera, bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, echinoids, bryozoans, fishes, ostracods, and marine mammals. We calculate biodiversity indexes to provide independent evidence quantifying to what degree the marine fauna underwent:</p><ol><li>A drop of overall regional biodiversity of the Mediterranean due to environmental stress during the Messinian.</li> <li>A taxonomic and functional change between the Tortonian, Messinian, and the Zanclean, that is before and after the MSC, as well as during the precursor events to that actual crisis taking place after the Tortonian/Messinian boundary.</li> <li>The onset of the present-day west-to-east decreasing gradient in species richness, which has been related to the sea temperature and productivity gradients and the distance from the Gibraltar connection to the Atlantic.</li> </ol>

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High diversified benthic habitats in a tidal Mediterranean sub-tropical environment: the case of the Gulf of Gabès (Tunisia)

10.7287/peerj.preprints.26537 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Abir Fersi ◽

Nawfel Mosbahi ◽

Ali Bakalem ◽

Jean-Philippe Pezy ◽

Alexandrine Baffreau ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Tropical Environment ◽

Gulf Of Gabes ◽

Annual Cycles ◽

Gulf Of Gabès ◽

Zostera Noltei ◽

Sediment Types ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact

The Gulf of Gabès on the southern coasts of Tunisia in the central part of the Mediterranean is a very shallow basin, characterized by semidiurnal tides, attaining a range of 2.3 m during spring tides. The intertidal zone was covered by extended Zostera (Zosterella) noltei Hornemann, 1832 beds mainly developed around the Kneiss Islands while tidal channels ensured the water circulation in this sub-tropical environment with very low freshwater input and high summer temperature. In spite of protected conventions, the area remained under high human pressures: overfishing, and the impact of the pollution of the phosphate industry. Intensive sampling in both intertidal and shallow subtidal zones during annual cycles permitted to identify a rich macrofauna which increase considerably the species known in this eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. More than 50 species are added for the Tunisian fauna. Moreover, patterns of diversity are analysed with the sediment types, presence or absence of Zostera noltei seagrass bed, and human pressures. The list of the collected species are compared with those of surrounding areas in both Western and Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

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