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Topic Review
Festive Ecology
Festive ecology explores the relationships between the symbolism and the ecology of the plants, fungi and animals associated with cultural events such as festivals, processions, and special occasions. Examples of topics are given below.
  • 297
  • 20 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change Adaptation in Greenland
Climate change adaptation is a pressing issue in Greenland. The term climate change describes long-term changes to the climate system. Since the 1950s a stark rise in global temperatures has been observed. As climate change, whether natural or anthropogenic, impacts the livelihoods of people across the globe, responses i.e. ways to prepare and adjust under changing vulnerabilities become important. Such responses are commonly discussed under the term adaptation, "the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects", as defined by the IPCC. Geographically Greenland is situated between the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean, with one third of the island being north of the Arctic Circle. Since the middle of the 20th century, the Arctic has been warming at about twice the global rate. Rising temperatures put increasing pressure on certain plant and tree species and contribute to Greenland's melting ice sheet. This affects and changes the livelihood of the Greenlandic population, particularly the Inuit people, which make up to 80 percent of the total population. Besides the decline of fish stocks, the country's landscape is changing: the melting ice reveals minerals, oil and gas. This has attracted interest from local and foreign investors for potential resource extraction. As new industries are accompanied by new job opportunities and potential wealth, lifestyles are changing. Greenland is in transition, in terms of biophysical as well as cultural and social conditions.
  • 2.6K
  • 20 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights (Arabic: هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ or Arabic: مُرْتَفَعَاتُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Hebrew: רמת הגולן‎, romanized: Ramat HaGolan), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about 1,800 square kilometres (690 sq mi). The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between disciplines: as a geological and biogeographical region, the term refers to a basaltic plateau bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the east. As a geopolitical region, it refers to the border region captured from Syria by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967; the territory has been occupied by the latter since then and was subject to a de facto Israeli annexation in 1981. This region includes the western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights and the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon. The earliest evidence of human habitation on the Golan dates to the Upper Paleolithic period. According to the Bible, an Amorite kingdom in Bashan was conquered by the Israelites during the reign of King Og. Throughout the Biblical period, the Golan was "the focus of a power struggle between the kings of Israel and the Aramaeans who were based near modern-day Damascus." After Assyrian and Babylonian rule, the region came under the domination of Persia, following which Jews were freed from Babylonian captivity and allowed to return and resettle in the land. The Itureans, an Arab or Aramaic people, settled in the area in the 2nd century BCE. In the 16th century, the Golan was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. Within Ottoman Syria, the Golan was part of the Syria Vilayet. The area later became part of the French Mandate in Syria and the State of Damascus. When the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Arab Republic. By the late-19th century, the Golan Heights was inhabited mostly by colonized peasants (fellaḥîn), Bedouin Arabs, Druze, Turkmen, and Circassians. Since the Six-Day War of 1967, the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel, whereas the eastern third remains under the control of Syria. Following the war, Syria dismissed any negotiations with Israel as part of the Khartoum Resolution at the 1967 Arab League summit. Construction of Israeli settlements began in the remainder of the territory held by Israel, which was under a military administration until the Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law in 1981, which applied Israeli law to the territory; the move has been described as an annexation. The Golan Heights Law was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 497, which stated that "the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect", and Resolution 242, which emphasizes the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war". Israel maintains it has a right to retain the Golan, also citing the text of Resolution 242, which calls for "secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force". After the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, control of the Syrian-administered part of the Golan Heights was split between the state government and Syrian opposition forces, with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) maintaining a 266 km2 (103 sq mi) buffer zone in between to help implement the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire across the Purple Line. From 2012 to 2018, the eastern half of the Golan Heights became a scene of repeated battles between the Syrian Army, rebel factions of the Syrian opposition (including the United States -backed Southern Front) as well as various jihadist organizations such as al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-affiliated Khalid ibn al-Walid Army. In July 2018, the Syrian government regained full control over the eastern Golan Heights. On 25 March 2019, then-President of the United States Donald Trump proclaimed US recognition of the Golan Heights as a part of the State of Israel, making it the first country to do so. The 28 member states of the European Union declared in turn that they do not recognize Israeli sovereignty, and several experts on international law reiterated that the principle remains that land gained by either defensive or offensive wars cannot be legally annexed under international law.
  • 3.1K
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Bioactive Metabolites in Liquid State Cultures
Humans have appreciated mushrooms for their edible and medicinal value since the Neolithic age. Increased interest in the pharmaceutical potential of mushrooms has led to numerous publications that explore more than 100 reported medicinal functions. These are functions such as antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antiviral, anti-diabetic, anti-thrombotic, anti-allergic, antidepressive, antihyperlipidemic, digestive, hypotensive, cytotoxic, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, nephroprotective, osteoprotective, and immunomodulating activities, among others. This therapeutic action is due to a wide array of bioactive metabolites isolated from the fruiting body, mycelium, and culture broth of macrofungi. Both complex high-molecular-weight compounds such as polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids and low-molecular-weight compounds such as terpenoids, polyketides, and alkaloids have been isolated and are under study. In addition to their pharmaceutical potential, mushrooms are recognized as a rich source of nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals are substances that have positive effects, proven by clinical testing, on normal physiological functions that maintain health in humans, thus preventing and treating diseases and enhancing longevity. There is a globally growing market for nutraceuticals sold as nutrients and supplements or in the form of enhanced “functional foods”. Natural bioactive compounds found in macrofungi are ideal for this market and are already being used for their properties.
  • 441
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Dairy Buffalo Behavior: Calving, Imprinting and Allosuckling
Maternal behavior, in water buffalo and other ruminants, is a set of patterns of a determined species, including calving, imprinting, and suckling. Since the success of dairy farms depends on parturition, lactation, and the welfare of both the dam and the calf, calving behavior in water buffalo is a research area that could help researchers understand this process.
  • 896
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Aydın
Aydın (/ˈaɪdɪn/ EYE-din; Turkish: [ˈajdɯn]; formerly named Güzelhisar, Ancient and Modern Greek: Τράλλεις /Tralleis/) is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient Meander River) at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast. Its population was 207,554 in 2014. Aydın city is located along a region which was famous for its fertility and productivity since ancient times. Figs remain the province's best-known crop, although other agricultural products are also grown intensively and the city has some light industry. At the crossroads of a busy transport network of several types, a six-lane motorway connects Aydın to İzmir, Turkey's second port, in less than an hour, and in still less time to the international Adnan Menderes Airport, located along the road between the two cities. A smaller airport, namely Aydın Airport, is located a few kilometers in the South-East of Aydın. The region of Aydın also pioneered the introduction of railways into Turkey in the 19th century and still has the densest railroad network. The province of Aydın is also where a number of internationally known historic sites and centers of tourism are concentrated.
  • 527
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Distribution of eDNA in Different Environments
In nature, DNA is ubiquitous, existing not only inside but also outside of the cells of organisms. Intracellular DNA (iDNA) plays an essential role in different stages of biological growth, and it is defined as the carrier of genetic information. In addition, extracellular DNA (eDNA) is not enclosed in living cells, accounting for a large proportion of total DNA in the environment. Both the lysis-dependent and lysis-independent pathways are involved in eDNA release, and the released DNA has diverse environmental functions.
  • 577
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Solar Desalination
Desalination is a capital-intensive process that requires a significant amount of energy, and since it is now mostly powered by fossil fuels across the globe, it has the potential to leave a significant carbon footprint. 
  • 845
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Global Earth Observation System of Systems
The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) is being built by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) on the basis of a 10-Year Implementation Plan running from 2005 to 2015. GEOSS seeks to connect the producers of environmental data and decision-support tools with the end users of these products, with the aim of enhancing the relevance of Earth observations to global issues. GEOSS aims to produce a global public infrastructure that generates comprehensive, near-real-time environmental data, information and analyses for a wide range of users. The Secretariat Director of Geoss is Barbara Ryan.
  • 332
  • 17 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Late Glacial
The Late Glacial climate warming (c. 13,000–10,000 years ago), or Tardiglacial ("Late Glacial"), is defined primarily by the beginning of the modern warm period, in which temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose substantially, causing a process of accelerated deglaciation following the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 25,000–13,000 years ago). At this time, human populations, previously forced into refuge areas as a result of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climatic conditions, gradually begin to repopulate the Northern Hemisphere's Eurasian landmass and eventually populate North America via Beringia for the first time. The Late Glacial Interstadial c.14,670 to c.12,890 BP represents the first pronounced warming since the end of the LGM. Evidence for its occurrence stems from two main types of analysis. The first is the use of oxygen isotope stages (OIS) gathered from stratified deep-sea sediment cores. Samples are gathered and measured for change in isotope levels to determine temperature fluctuation for given periods of time. The second is a proxy measurement, the observation of certain reappearing fauna and flora fossils that can survive only in temperate climates, thus indicating warming trends for a given geographic area. Archaeological evidence of settlement and resettlement in certain areas by humans also serve as proxy measurements. Towards the end of OIS 2 in which the Late Glacial Maximum occurs, the deep-sea sediment cores indicate a gradually warming climate, and the reappearance of certain warm-weather flora and fauna remains throughout the Northern Hemisphere correlate with that trend. The Late Glacial was interrupted by a severe decline in temperatures during the Younger Dryas from c.12,890 to c.11,650 BP.
  • 593
  • 17 Nov 2022
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