On study of hazards in tourism mountainous regions and their relative prevention

Author(s):  
Jia Li
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Valentina Tagliapietra ◽  
Flavia Riccardo ◽  
Giovanni Rezza

Italy is considered a low incidence country for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Europe. Areas at higher risk for TBE in Italy are geographically clustered in the forested and mountainous regions and provinces in the north east part of the country, as suggested by TBE case series published over the last decade.


Italy is considered a low-incidence country for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Europe.1 Areas at higher risk for TBE in Italy are geographically clustered in the forested and mountainous regions and provinces in the north east part of the country, as suggested by TBE case series published over the last decade.2-5 A national enhanced surveillance system for TBE has been established since 2017.6 Before this, information on the occurrence of TBE cases at the national level in Italy was lacking. Both incidence rates and the geographical distribution of the disease were mostly inferred from endemic areas where surveillance was already in place, ad hoc studies and international literature.1


Author(s):  
A. P. Sukhorukov ◽  
M. A. Kushunina

Kochia monticola was previously considered as a synonym for the widely distributed Irano-Turanian Panderia pilosa. After the merger of Kochia and Panderia with Bassia based on molecular phylogeny, K. monticola remained a synonym of Bassia pilosa. We claim that Bassia monticola, a name proposed by Kuntze (1891) for K. monticola, should be separated from B. pilosa based on morphological characters and localised distribution in mountainous regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon at altitudes 1800–2600 m a. s. l.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-117
Author(s):  
Solomon Jeremiah Sembosi

Rural settlements in mountainous regions are a typical process that occurs in many places around the world and have a number of implications on the landscape. Among them is a threat it possesses to the conservation and management of Afromontane ecosystems. This study assessed the socio-economic factors that drive the changes in land use and forest cover and the extent of land use and vegetation cover in and around Magamba Nature Reserve. Focus group discussion, direct field observation and household survey were used to acquire socio-economic information that impacts land use and forest cover. Through the use of Remote Sensing and GIS methods Landsat satellite images of 1995, 2008 and 2015 were employed to identify the extent of the changes in land use and forest cover. The perceived factors for the changes include education level, unemployment, landless/limited, landholding, population pressure, expansion of built-up areas and agricultural land at the expense of other land covers. This study revealed the transformation of natural forest and associated vegetation from one form to another. There was a decrease in natural vegetation from 61.06% in 1995 to 26.02% in 2015 and increase in built-up areas by 6.69% and agricultural areas by 4.70%. This study recommends conservation monitoring and strong law enforcement relating to natural resources so as to promote sustainable use of resources to rescue the diminishing ecosystem services.


Author(s):  
Mansureh Ghavam ◽  
Afsaneh Afzali ◽  
Maria Manconi ◽  
Gianluigi Bacchetta ◽  
Maria Letizia Manca

Abstract Background Essential oil of Rosa × damascena Herrm. is one of the most valuable and important raw materials for the flavor and fragrance industry. The cultivation of this plant has ancient origins, and Kashan was one of the first mountainous regions of Iran dealing with the cultivation of R. × damascena. In this study, both chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of different rose essential oils obtained from five mountainous areas of Kashan region (Maragh, Qamsar, Sadeh, Javinan, and Kamoo) has been investigated along with the influence of the environmental conditions on these properties. Results Results showed that yield and chemical composition of essential oils obtained from Rosa × damascena were significantly affected by the collection area. In particular, the yield of oils varied from ~0.08 to ~0.132% and citronellol (36.70-9.18%), geraniol (12.82-0.47%), nonadecane (22.73-10.36%), heneicosane (31.7-11.43%), and 1-nonadecene (6.03-3.93%) have been detected as main compounds in all the plants collected, but at different concentrations depending on the collection area. The best fragrance and the highest yield were found in the oil from Kamoo area. Similarly to the chemical composition, the antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was affected by their origin, and essential oil obtained from plants collected from Kamoo area disclosed the highest antibacterial and antifungal efficacy. Its inhibition halos were 17.33±0.58 mm against Aspergillus brasiliensis, 15.67±0.58 mm against Staphylococcus aureus, and 12.33±0. 58 mm against Streptococcus pyogenes. Essential oils of R. damascena were also effective against Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and they had a MIC value of 62.50 μg/mL irrespective of the collection area (except the oil from Javinan area). On the contrary, the highest antifungal power against Candida albicans yeast was reached using the essential oil obtained from plants collected in Javinan region (MIC and MBC ~62.50 μg/mL). Conclusions Overall results underline the influence of environmental conditions of the different areas of Kashan region, on the chemical composition of and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of Rosa × damascena. In addition, results disclosed that Kamoo seemed to be the most suitable area for the competitive cultivation of R. × damascena to the intensive production of aromatic flower oil and natural antimicrobial essential oils.


2021 ◽  
Vol 596 ◽  
pp. 126056
Author(s):  
H. Wang ◽  
Y.P. Li ◽  
Y.R. Liu ◽  
G.H. Huang ◽  
Y.F. Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Josef Niebauer ◽  
Martin Burtscher

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) still represents an unanticipated and catastrophic event eliciting from cardiac causes. SCD is the leading cause of non-traumatic deaths during downhill skiing and mountain hiking, related to the fact that these sports are very popular among elderly people. Annually, more than 40 million downhill skiers and mountain hikers/climbers visit mountainous regions of the Alps, including an increasing number of individuals with pre-existing chronic diseases. Data sets from two previously published case-control studies have been used to draw comparisons between the SCD risk of skiers and hikers. Data of interest included demographic variables, cardiovascular risk factors, medical history, physical activity, and additional symptoms and circumstances of sudden death for cases. To establish a potential connection between the SCD risk and sport-specific physical strain, data on cardiorespiratory responses to downhill skiing and mountain hiking, assessed in middle-aged men and women, have been included. It was demonstrated that previous myocardial infarction (MI) (odds ratio; 95% CI: 92.8; 22.8–379.1; p < 0.001) and systemic hypertension (9.0; 4.0–20.6; p < 0.001) were predominant risk factors for SCD in skiers, but previous MI (10.9; 3.8–30.9; p < 0.001) and metabolic disorders like hypercholesterolemia (3.4; 2.2–5.2; p < 0.001) and diabetes (7.4; 1.6–34.3; p < 0.001) in hikers. More weekly high-intensity exercise was protective in skiers (0.17; 0.04–0.74; p = 0.02), while larger amounts of mountain sports activities per year were protective in hikers (0.23; 0.1–0.4; <0.001). In conclusion, previous MI history represents the most important risk factor for SCD in recreational skiers and hikers as well, and adaptation to high-intensity exercise is especially important to prevent SCD in skiers. Moreover, the presented differences in risk factor patterns for SCDs and discussed requirements for physical fitness in skiers and hikers will help physicians to provide specifically targeted advice.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Liheng Lu ◽  
Xiaoqian Shen ◽  
Ruyin Cao

The Tibetan Plateau, the highest plateau in the world, has experienced strong climate warming during the last few decades. The greater increase of temperature at higher elevations may have strong impacts on the vertical movement of vegetation activities on the plateau. Although satellite-based observations have explored this issue, these observations were normally provided by the coarse satellite data with a spatial resolution of more than hundreds of meters (e.g., GIMMS and MODIS), which could lead to serious mixed-pixel effects in the analyses. In this study, we employed the medium-spatial-resolution Landsat NDVI data (30 m) during 1990–2019 and investigated the relationship between temperature and the elevation-dependent vegetation changes in six mountainous regions on the Tibetan Plateau. Particularly, we focused on the elevational movement of the vegetation greenness isoline to clarify whether the vegetation greenness isoline moves upward during the past three decades because of climate warming. Results show that vegetation greening occurred in all six mountainous regions during the last three decades. Increasing temperatures caused the upward movement of greenness isoline at the middle and high elevations (>4000 m) but led to the downward movement at lower elevations for the six mountainous regions except for Nyainqentanglha. Furthermore, the temperature sensitivity of greenness isoline movement changes from the positive value to negative value by decreasing elevations, suggesting that vegetation growth on the plateau is strongly regulated by other factors such as water availability. As a result, the greenness isoline showed upward movement with the increase of temperature for about 59% pixels. Moreover, the greenness isoline movement increased with the slope angles over the six mountainous regions, suggesting the influence of terrain effects on the vegetation activities. Our analyses improve understandings of the diverse response of elevation-dependent vegetation activities on the Tibetan Plateau.


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