A SPATIAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN CASPIAN HYRCANIAN MIXED FORESTS ECOREGION

Ecotourism, as a form of sustainable nature-based tourism, promotes conservation of ecological and scenic values. In this study, a Spatial Decision Support System, SDSS, was developed based upon Multi Criteria Evaluation, MCE, for ecotourism development in the Caspian Hyrcanian Mixed Forests ecoregion, northern Iran. For this, important criteria andconstraints for ecotourism development were shortlisted using the Delphi Method. The criteria were weighted using Analytical Hierarchy Process, AHP. The obtained results indicated that “distance from water resources”, “land use”, “slope”, “soil”, “climate”, “distance from roads”, “land cover density”, “erosion”, and “distance from residential areas” were the most important criteria, respectively. The findings suggest that GIS-based SDSS issuitable to engage the various criteria affecting the development of ecotourism destinations. This empirical research develops a new method that can significantly facilitate planning forecotourism development with respect to ecological capability of ecotourism destinations

An integrated expression phenotype mapping approach defines common variants in LEP, ALOX15 and CAPNS1 associated with induction of IL-6

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an important modulator of inflammation and immunity whose dysregulation is associated with a number of disease states. There is evidence of significant heritability in inter-individual variation in IL6 gene expression but the genetic variants responsible for this remain to be defined. We adopted a combined approach of mapping protein and expression quantitative trait loci in peripheral blood mononuclear cells using high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing for ∼2000 loci implicated in cardiovascular, metabolic and inflammatory syndromes to show that common SNP markers and haplotypes of LEP (encoding leptin) associate with a 1.7- to 2-fold higher level of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced IL-6 expression. We subsequently demonstrate that basal leptin expression significantly correlates with LPS-induced IL-6 expression and that the same variants at LEP which associate with IL-6 expression are also major determinants of leptin expression in these cells. We find that variation involving two other genomic regions, CAPNS1 (encoding calpain small subunit 1) and ALOX15 (encoding arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase), show significant association with IL-6 expression. Although this may be a subset of all such trans-acting effects, we find that the same ALOX15 variants are associated with induced expression of tumour necrosis factor and IL-1beta consistent with a broader role in acute inflammation for ALOX15. This study provides evidence of novel genetic determinants of IL-6 production with implications for understanding susceptibility to inflammatory disease processes and insight into cross talk between metabolic and inflammatory pathways. It also provides proof of concept for use of an integrated expression phenotype mapping approach

RemoveDebris Mission, In Orbit Operations

International audienceThe RemoveDebris mission has been the first Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission to give in orbit demonstrations of cost effective technologies that can be used to obser ve, capture and dispose of space debris. The craft was launched to the ISS on the 2nd of April 2018, on board a Dragon capsule. From here the satellite was deployed via the NanoRacks Kaber system into an orbit at 405km altitude and has performed key technology demonstrations including the use of a net, a harpoon, vision-based navigation (VBN) and a dragsail in a realistic space operational environment. Two CubeSats have been released by the main platform and used as targets for the net demonstration and for the VBN, whereas the harpoon demonstration has used a target mounted at the end of a boom deployed from the platform. These have been the first ever in-orbit successful demonstrations of technologies for large space debris capture. The dragsail demonstration presented some anomalies, however the lessons learned have already been implemented in new successful dragsails already deployed in space missions. This paper briefly outlines the development of the mission, discussing some of its challenges, and focusses on the various in orbit experiments, describing the operations and overall outcomes

Dynamic Simulation of Urban Expansion Based on Cellular Automata and Logistic Regression Model: Case Study of the Hyrcanian Region of Iran

The hypothesis addressed in this article is to determine the extent of selected land use categories with respect to their effect on urban expansion. A model that combines a logistic regression model, Markov chain, together with cellular automata based modeling, is introduced here to simulate future urban growth and development in the Gilan Province, Iran. The model is calibrated based on data beginning in 1989 and ending in 2013 and is applied in making predictions for the years 2025 and 2037, across 12 urban development criteria. The relative operating characteristic (ROC) is validated with a very high rate of urban development. The analyzed results indicate that the area of urban land has increased by more than 1.7% that is, from 36,012.5 ha in 1989 to 59,754.8 ha in 2013 and the area of the Caspian Hyrcanian forestland has reduced by 31,628 ha. The simulation results, with respect to prediction, indicate an alarming increase in the rate of urban development in the province by 2025 and 2037 that is, 0.82% and 1.3%, respectively. The development pattern is expected to be uneven and scattered, without following any particular direction. The development will occur close to the existing or newly-formed urban infrastructure and around major roads and commercial areas. If not controlled, this development trend will lead to the loss of 25,101 ha of Hyrcanian forest and, if continued, 21,774 ha of barren and open lands are expected to be destroyed by the year 2037. These results demonstrate the capacity of the integrated model in establishing comparisons with urban plans and their utility to explain both the volume and constraints of urban growth. It is beneficial to apply the integrated approach in urban dynamic assessment through land use modeling with respect to spatio-temporal representation in distinct urban development formats

Metabolomics—A Tool to Find Metabolism of Endocrine Cancer

Clinical endocrinology entails an understanding of the mechanisms involved in the regulation of tumors that occur in the endocrine system. The exact cause of endocrine cancers remains an enigma, especially when discriminating malignant lesions from benign ones and early diagnosis. In the past few years, the concepts of personalized medicine and metabolomics have gained great popularity in cancer research. In this systematic review, we discussed the clinical metabolomics studies in the diagnosis of endocrine cancers within the last 12 years. Cancer metabolomic studies were largely conducted using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) combined with separation techniques such as gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC). Our findings revealed that the majority of the metabolomics studies were conducted on tissue, serum/plasma, and urine samples. Studies most frequently emphasized thyroid cancer, adrenal cancer, and pituitary cancer. Altogether, analytical hyphenated techniques and chemometrics are promising tools in unveiling biomarkers in endocrine cancer and its metabolism disorders

A SPATIAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN CASPIAN HYRCANIAN MIXED FORESTS ECOREGION

Ecotourism, as a form of sustainable nature-based tourism, promotes conservation of ecological and scenic values. In this study, a Spatial Decision Support System, SDSS, was developed based upon Multi Criteria Evaluation, MCE, for ecotourism development in the Caspian Hyrcanian Mixed Forests ecoregion, northern Iran. For this, important criteria and constraints for ecotourism development were shortlisted using the Delphi Method. The criteria were weighted using Analytical Hierarchy Process, AHP. The obtained results indicated that "distance from water resources", "land use", "slope", "soil", "climate", "distance from roads", "land cover density", "erosion", and "distance from residential areas" were the most important criteria, respectively. The findings suggest that GIS-based SDSS is suitable to engage the various criteria affecting the development of ecotourism destinations. This empirical research develops a new method that can significantly facilitate planning forecotourism development with respect to ecological capability of ecotourism destinations

Management of Obesity in Children: A Narrative Review

Background and Objectives: Over the past three decades, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents has increased up to 3 times. Obesity is a multi-systemic medical problem affecting all socioeconomic statuses and increases the risk of other severe comorbidities even in childhood. In 50% of cases, there is a persistence of obesity from childhood into adulthood. This narrative review aimed to define the etiology, risk factors, prevention, and management of obesity in children.  Methods: This narrative review was conducted through a literature search on articles in English with the keywords of pediatric obesity, child, overweight, and bariatric surgery in PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Sciences, Cochrane, and EMBASE databases from 2001 to 2021 for 4 categories of etiology, risk factors, prevention, and management of obesity in children. Scientific articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, consensus, recommendations, and international and national guidelines published on pediatric obesity were considered. Results: In this narrative review, we first assessed relevant articles to define childhood obesity and mention its etiologies. We then discussed the probability of persistent obesity from childhood into adulthood and intergenerational and perinatal transmission risks. We also noticed syndromic obesity, evaluation of childhood obesity, and its complications along with medical/surgical interventions. Conclusions: Metabolic programming in particular periods of life, such as before and during pregnancy, infancy, and at the age of rebound adiposity (5.5 years old), is necessary to prevent childhood obesity. Lifestyle changes, diet modifications, promoting exclusive breastfeeding, and increased activity are the main principles of preventing and managing obesity. It is prudent to rule out syndromic and endocrinologic causes of obesity in suspicious patients along with their management

The active space debris removal mission RemoveDebris. Part 2: in orbit operations

International audienc