5,290 research outputs found
Vulnerability of hydropower installations to climate change : preliminary study
The climate trends observed worldwide over the past few decades appear to corroborate the concerns of the scientific community about the many threats posed by global warming. Future changes of the current climate are expected to occur on different scales all around the globe, hence modifying the environmental background on the basis of which technological installations have been designed and operated. This can potentially threat the safety of the installations as well as their. The development of suitable tools aiming to predict the impact of climate change on technological installations is then essential in the wider context of climate change mitigation. Hydropower installations play often a crucial role not only as a long-term renewable resource of energy but also for flood control and water supply in the case of droughts. All these aspects highlight the increasing importance of such installations as well as their growing vulnerability to natural hazards. It is hence essential to enlarge the current understanding of the interaction mechanisms between such installations and the changing surrounding environment in order to take adequate measures for climate change adaptation and ensure the future safety and productivity of hydropower production. The current study aims to provide a novel model for the evaluation of the impact of climate change on the safety of hydropower stations. The approach adopted allows to include in the model the uncertainty inevitably associated with the input variables and to propagate such uncertainty within the analysis. The model proposed is finally applied to a realistic case-study in order to highlight its potential and limitations
Low clonal propagation in Atlantic and Mediterranean populations of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Octocorallia)
Clonal propagation is a common feature of benthic marine organisms. In the present study, we investigated the contribution of clonal reproduction in the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata. Mediterranean populations of P. clavata were severely affected by mass mortality events caused by increased water temperature in 1999 and 2003. The populations are characterized by slow growth and episodic recruitment, but after the observed mortalities, an unexpectedly high recovery rate was observed in the severely affected populations from the Ligurian Sea, NW Mediterranean. Ten years after the last mortality event, we investigated the contribution of clonal propagation in populations from the Ligurian Sea, where some populations were highly affected by mass mortality events, and from the Atlantic, where mortality was never observed. All individuals were genotyped for nine microsatellite loci. The contribution of clonal reproduction varied from 0% to 13% and did not differ significantly between affected and unaffected populations. We confirm by using genetic markers that clonal propagation in P. clavata is not common, and that the contribution of clones is too low to play an important role in red gorgonian reproduction and cannot contribute to population recovery at sites that have been affected by mass mortality events.Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) under the COMPETE program - European Regional Development Fund [PTDC/BIA-BIC/114526/2009]; MARES Grant; Erasmus Mundus [FPA 2011-0016
Are relative educational inequalities in multiple health behaviors widening? A longitudinal study of middle-aged adults in Northern Norway
Introduction: Educational inequality in multiple health behaviors is rarely
monitored using data from the same individuals as they age. The aim of this
study is to research changes in relative educational inequality in multiple variables
related to health behavior (smoking, physical activity, alcohol intake, and body
mass index), separately and collectively (healthy lifestyle), among middle-aged
adults living in Northern Norway.
Methods: Data from adult respondents aged 32–87 in 2008 with repeated
measurements in 2016 (N = 8,906) were drawn from the sixth and seventh
waves of the Tromsø Study. Logistic regression was used to assess the relative
educational inequality in the variables related to health behavior. The analyses
were performed for the total sample and separately for women and men at both
baseline and follow-up.
Results: Educational inequality was observed in all the variables related to health
behavior at baseline and follow-up, in both men and women. Higher levels
of educational attainment were associated with healthier categories (non-daily
smoking, physical activity, normal body mass index, and a healthy lifestyle), but
also with high alcohol intake. The prevalence of daily smoking and physical
inactivity decreased during the surveyed period, while high alcohol intake, having
a body mass index outside of the normal range and adhering to multiple
health recommendations simultaneously increased. The magnitude of relative
educational inequality measured at baseline increased at the follow-up in all the
variables related to health behavior. Differences were larger among women when
compared to men, except in physical inactivity.
Conclusion: Persistent and increasing relative disparities in health behavior
between the highest education level and lower education levels are found in
countries with well-established and comprehensive welfare systems like Norway.
Addressing these inequalities is essential for reducing both the chronic disease
burden and educational disparities in health
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