Served on a Plate: A Late Medieval Ceramic Vessel with Sgraffito Decoration of a Sailing Ship from the Ropotamo Underwater Excavations, Black Sea, Bulgaria

We report on the interpretation of a late medieval Eastern Mediterranean glazed ceramic vessel with sgraffito decoration depicting a sailing ship. The artefact represents a chance find that was recovered outside the excavation area of the Ropotamo underwater archaeological excavations on the Southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in 2017. Fragments of late medieval sgraffito-decorated ceramics with depictions of sailing ships are rare. Complete examples can be considered exceptional. The Ropotamo artefact is of particular interest due to the freehand execution of its decoration, which suggests some understanding of contemporary ship proportions and seafaring practices on behalf of the artisan. The specimen is analyzed against similar artefacts and discussed in the context of maritime graffiti from the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean regions. The aim is to establish its potential for studying archaeological ceramics and evaluate the extent to which the decoration reflects aspects of Eastern Mediterranean maritime culture of the late Byzantine and early post-Byzantine periods. More research is required to appreciate the full potential of the Ropotamo artefact. A hypothesis for origin, dating and significance has been proposed. However, due to a shortage of published parallels, it may be subject to further refinements in the future in case more stratified similis are identified.

Morphological and Genome-Wide Evidence of Homoploid Hybridisation in Urospermum (Asteraceae)

The genus Urospermum is distributed in the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, and has been introduced to other extra-Mediterranean regions. Although the two species constituting the genus, U. dalechampii and U. picroides, are frequently found together, hybrids have so far only been reported once, from Morocco. However, we found certain individuals in Catalonia, whose intermediate morphology suggested a potential hybrid origin. In this study, we applied morphological and molecular methods to investigate the origin of those individuals. Intermediate features at phenotype, karyological, cytogenetic, and genomic levels were identified in morphologically intermediate individuals, supporting their homoploid hybrid origin. Chloroplast sequence data suggest that U. dalechampii is the maternal progenitor of the hybrid. Together with the intermediate traits displayed, the lack of fertile seeds suggests that hybrids are probably F1. Future monitoring studies will be, nonetheless, needed to evaluate the extent of hybridisation and its potential impact on the biology of the genus.

Biscogniauxia Charcoal Canker—A New Potential Threat for Mid-European Forests as an Effect of Climate Change

Biscogniauxia nummularia (Bull.) Kuntze is a fungus which induces strip-cankers on beech, commonly referred to as charcoal canker. The symptoms of infection are visible on the host tree’s bark as elongated, blackish bark lesions on the trunk and branches. Recent years have shown that, due to climate change causing local epidemics, the species is increasing its economic impact in Mediterranean regions. Until recently, B. nummularia was considered rare and uncommon in central Europe. However, in the last few years it has been noticed more often, mostly in coniferous trees, which are out of B. nummularia’s host range. A similar situation has been observed with the closely related species Biscogniauxia mediterranea (De Not.) Kuntze, which prior to 2017 had not been observed in central Europe at all. This study shows the genetic diversity of mid-European strains of Biscogniauxia spp. (based on the ITS, TEF1, TUB2 and ACT regions) and, as the first in Europe, presents a molecular investigation of this species isolated from coniferous trees. It is also the first attempt at estimating the potential impact of this pathogenic fungus on European forestry management in the close future.

Mediterranean Diet as a Healthy, Sustainable, and Secure Food Pattern

Despite the recognized advantages of Mediterranean Diet (MD), the adherence to it decreased with modern lifestyle, where the time dedicated to acquisition, preparation/confection of food and meals diminished. At the same time, Mediterranean regions face a growth in the levels of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, sometimes together with undernutrition that affects other parts of the population. This chapter make a presentation about MD as a sustainable food system, essential to promote food security, at the same time that the methods of food production and consumption must respect the environment, maintain biodiversity, and economic society valorisation. Also, it shows MD associated with several factors such as gender, marital status, education level, lifestyle, and body weight. Maintaining the traditional MD pattern is crucial for public health, particularly in pandemic contexts such as COVID-19 where it shows the opportunity and relevance of adopt and promote MD as a healthy and sustainable diet.

Nutrient Composition, Antioxidant Activities and Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Jujube Fruit

Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) fruit belongs to the Rhamnaceous family and is widely located in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia as well as in the Mediterranean regions including Jordan. Therefore, the aim of this review was to illustrate the nutritional value of jujube fruit and its importance in human health protection as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Recently, several scientific reports have been carried out about the presence of many biologically active compounds from Z. jujuba, which may have high potential benefit in human nutrition, health, and disease. Based on previous studies, jujube fruit can possess good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity rendering it a functional food. Since jujube fruit has diverse biological activity, further biological studies including clinical-based studies are recommended to explore the health promoting effect of jujube.

ASSESSMENT OF THE VISIBILITY CAPABILITIES OF FOREST FIRE LOOKOUT TOWERS: THE CASE OF GEMLIK, BURSA, TURKEY

In Turkey, there are forest areas that are sensitive to fire in the first degree, especially along the coastline in the Marmara region and the Aegean and Mediterranean regions. As a result of forest fires, which is one of the biggest environmental disasters on forest resources, approximately 10000 hectares of forest area is damaged annually. One of the important elements of combating forest fires is early detection. In order to achieve this goal, the correct positioning of fire lookout towers is of great importance. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate visibility capabilities of forest fire lookout tower in Gemlik Forestry Enterprise Chief (FEC) located in the city of Bursa. Firstly, the visibility analysis was implemented using in ArcGIS 10.4.1 to evaluate the existing fire tower in the FEC, and then considering the potential fire lookout tower in the study area, the visible areas from both existing and new tower were determined. According to the results, while 63.55% of the study area was visible from the existing tower, this ratio increased to 77.39% when the second tower was added. When only the forest areas are evaluated, the existing tower could see 71.73% of the forest areas, while the visible forest areas have increased to 83.36% when the two towers were taken into account. It has been seen that the visibility capacities of existing towers and potential towers can be evaluated effectively by using GIS-based visibility analysis.

Analysis of Biodeteriogens on Architectural Heritage. An Approach of Applied Botany on a Gothic Building in Southern Italy

The degradation of stone materials depends on several interlinked factors. The effects caused by biodeteriogens on mineral-based substrates are now increasingly considered in the field of cultural heritage conservation from different experimental approaches. In this study, biodeteriogenic micro- and macroflora within the gothic building of Santa Maria della Pietà, Squillace, Calabria, have been analyzed using multiple approaches, such as optical microscopy and molecular techniques. All 17 plant species detected are usually widespread in Mediterranean regions and some of these, such as Ailanthus altissima and Ficus carica, showed a very high hazard index, which is potentially dangerous for masonry stability. Fungi, cyanobacteria, and green algae were identified within biofilm compositions in a total of 23 different taxa, showing many similarities with microbial associations commonly found in cave and hypogean environments. All of the 11 fungal taxa detected belong to Ascomycota phylum, with Penicillium as the most represented genus. Photoautotrophic organisms are mostly represented by filamentous genera, with widespread presence of Leptolyngbya as the most abundant genus. The results highlighted how the singular environmental conditions of the study site, combined with the architectural features and the building materials, determined all the degradation phenomena affecting the building’s internal surfaces, compromising over time the structural integrity.

Energy and Water Related Parameters in Tomato and Cucumber Greenhouse Crops in Semiarid Mediterranean Regions. A Review, Part II: Irrigation and Fertigation

Increasing agricultural systems’ resource efficiency is the key action for producing adequate food quantities in semi-arid Mediterranean regions while coping with water scarcity, environmental constraints and economic issues. Optimisation of irrigation and fertigation practices imposes different approaches, considering plant-water-soil relationships based on prevailing greenhouse microclimatic conditions, ensuring optimal production per drop of water and unit of fertiliser. In the content of "precision agricultural farming systems", nutrient uptake modelling, phyto-sensing, smart and sustainable technologies must be applied for monitoring and evaluating water and nutrients crops supply. However, in many cases, the use of irrigation and fertigation recipes given in the literature may not be compatible in the Mediterranean, as they usually originated based on northern European climatic conditions. The objective of this work is an attempt to understand various aspects of irrigation and fertigation management in vegetable fruiting crops such as tomato and cucumber towards nutrients and water resource sustainability in Mediterranean greenhouses.

Population Bias on Tornado Reports in Europe

Tornadoes are associated with damages, injuries, and even fatalities in Europe. Knowing the spatial distribution of tornadoes is essential for developing disaster risk reduction strategies. Unfortunately, there is a population bias on tornado reporting in Europe. To account for this bias, a Bayesian modeling approach was used based on tornado observations and population density for relatively small regions of Europe. The results indicated that the number of tornadoes could be 53% higher that are currently reported. The largest adjustments produced by the model are for Northern Europe and parts of the Mediterranean regions.

Virulence and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis ability of Turkish Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi isolates and susceptibility of some native olive genotypes

Aim of study: To evaluate the virulence and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis ability of several Turkish P. savastanoi pv. savastanoi isolates and the susceptibility of some native genotypes to olive knot. Area of study: The Aegean, Marmara, and Mediterranean Regions of Turkey. Material and methods: 101 isolated bacteria were identified on the basis of biochemical, PCR for amplification of the bacterial iaaL gene, and pathogenicity tests. The virulence of the isolates was determined in a randomized experimental trial carried out by stem inoculation of pot-grown seedlings of olive (cv. ‘Manzanilla’) in the growing chamber. The amounts of IAA produced by the isolates were determined colorimetrically. The susceptibility of native olive genotypes was evaluated on 2-yr old plants inoculated with two distinct strains. Main results: Tested P. savastanoi pv. savastanoi isolates showed significant differences in virulence found to be associated with their geographical origin. The isolates produced IAA amounts varied from 148.67 to 0.3 μg mL-1. The geographical variation in IAA biosynthesis ability of the isolates was observed. No correlation (R=0.0225) was determined between virulence and IAA amounts of the isolates. Native olive genotypes indicated different susceptibility levels to the olive knot pathogen. No genotype tested had complete resistance. However, low susceptible genotypes (‘Memecik’, ‘Ayvalık’ and ‘Uslu’) were identified. Some genotypes had variable reactions depending on the isolate used. Research highlights: The results undergird the differences in the virulence and IAA production of the isolates within the area and also between geographical locations. Genotypes with low susceptibility can be used as genitors in further breeding studies.