Quantifying the contribution of the Land Use sector to the Paris Climate Agreement

This analysis highlights that the full implementation of all INDCs would significantly decrease LULUCF net GHG emissions in 2030 compared to historical levels. In order to reduce the current high level of uncertainty, additional efforts to improve monitoring and reporting are needed.JRC.H.3-Forest Resources and Climat

The anatomy of houses: Materialities of being at home

This introductory essay proposes a reflection that discusses, reframes, and presents the thematic section hosted in this volume, that investigates houses at the intersection between recent trends in the anthropology of the house, the study of material culture, and the investigation of contemporary socio-cultural transformations. In the first paragraph, we contextualize the growing contemporary interest in houses. In the second, following Carsten, we sustain the idea that houses themselves should be placed at the heart of a research agenda, we present the approach proposed in this thematic section, we clarify what are houses and what distinguishes them in relation to homes and households and how, in the history of anthropology, these “objects” have been investigated. In the third paragraph, reviewing the main approaches to the theme, we delve into the notion of société à maisons elaborated by Lévi-Strauss. The fourth paragraph places the concreteness of houses back at the centre of the analysis, where normative and material forms are mediated, reproduced, and even contested or negotiated. In the last, we present the three articles hosted in this thematic section – and the afterword discussing them – that explore how houses and their materiality modify the world and deal with its transformations.Questo saggio introduttivo propone una riflessione che discute, contestualizza e presenta la sezione tematica ospitata in questo volume, che indaga le case all’intersezione tra le recenti tendenze dell’antropologia della casa, lo studio della cultura materiale e l’indagine delle trasformazioni socio-culturali contemporanee. Nel primo paragrafo, contestualizziamo il crescente interesse contemporaneo per le case. Nel secondo, seguendo Carsten, sosteniamo l’idea che le case stesse debbano essere poste al centro di un’agenda di ricerca, presentiamo l’approccio proposto in questa sezione tematica, chiariamo cosa si intenda con “house” e cosa la distingua dai concetti di “home” e “household” e come, nella storia dell’antropologia, questi “oggetti” siano stati indagati. Nel terzo paragrafo, passando in rassegna i principali approcci al tema, approfondiamo la nozione di société à maisons elaborata da Lévi-Strauss. Il quarto paragrafo rimette al centro dell’analisi la concretezza delle case, dove le forme normative e materiali sono mediate, riprodotte e persino contestate o negoziate. Nell’ultimo, presentiamo i tre articoli etnografici ospitati in questa sezione tematica – e la postfazione che li discute – che esplorano come le case e la loro materialità modificano il mondo e affrontano le sue trasformazioni

Implementing conservativeness in REDD+ is realistic and useful to address the most uncertain estimates

One of the main challenges in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), either within a future UNFCCC mechanism or as part of result-based initiatives, is to design a system which is credible and broadly implementable by developing countries. To ensure credibility of REDD+ high quality monitoring systems are needed, i.e. capable of producing accurate estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. However, a possible trade-off exists between the high quality system requirement and broad participation: if a significant number of countries will not fully access REDD+ because of not being able to produce accurate estimates, the consequent risk of leakage (i.e. emissions displacement to these countries) could undermine the ultimate scope of REDD+. In this issue, Plugge et al. analyzed the implications of applying the principle of conservativeness in the context of uncertainties of carbon stock change estimates in REDD+. While this principle is included in several UNFCCC documents (e.g., UNFCCC 2006), its application to REDD+ was proposed by Grassi et al. (2008) “to address the potential incompleteness and high uncertainties of REDD+ estimates”; i.e. “when completeness or accuracy of estimates cannot be achieved the reduction of emissions should not be overestimated, or at least the risk of overestimation should be reduced”. Wide interest has been shown in this proposal (e.g., GOFC-GOLD, 2011; Herold & Skutsch, 2011; Meridian Institute, 2011). This comment aims to: • Highlight the technical and scientific differences between the approaches of Plugge et al. (this issue) and Grassi et al. (2008) for the implementation of the conservativeness principle. • Summarize and further discuss a scientifically defensible yet realistic approach to implement conservativeness in REDD+ context.JRC.H.3-Forest Resources and Climat

Behavior and Bio-Interactions of Anthropogenic Particles in Marine Environment for a More Realistic Ecological Risk Assessment

Owing to production, usage, and disposal of nano-enabled products as well as fragmentation of bulk materials, anthropogenic nanoscale particles (NPs) can enter the natural environment and through different compartments (air, soil, and water) end up into the sea. With the continuous increase in production and associated emissions and discharges, they can reach concentrations able to exceed toxicity thresholds for living species inhabiting marine coastal areas. Behavior and fate of NPs in marine waters are driven by transformation processes occurring as a function of NP intrinsic and extrinsic properties in the receiving seawaters. All those aspects have been overlooked in ecological risk assessment. This review critically reports ecotoxicity studies in which size distribution, surface charges and bio−nano interactions have been considered for a more realistic risk assessment of NPs in marine environment. Two emerging and relevant NPs, the metal-based titanium dioxide (TiO2), and polystyrene (PS), a proxy for nanoplastics, are reviewed, and their impact on marine biota (from planktonic species to invertebrates and fish) is discussed as a function of particle size and surface charges (negative vs. positive), which affect their behavior and interaction with the biological material. Uptake of NPs is related to their nanoscale size; however, in vivo studies clearly demonstrated that transformation (agglomerates/aggregates) occurring in both artificial and natural seawater drive to different exposure routes and biological responses at cellular and organism level. Adsorption of single particles or agglomerates onto the body surface or their internalization in feces can impair motility and affect sinking or floating behavior with consequences on populations and ecological function. Particle complex dynamics in natural seawater is almost unknown, although it determines the effective exposure scenarios. Based on the latest predicted environmental concentrations for TiO2 and PS NPs in the marine environment, current knowledge gaps and future research challenges encompass the comprehensive study of bio−nano interactions. As such, the analysis of NP biomolecular coronas can enable a better assessment of particle uptake and related cellular pathways leading to toxic effects. Moreover, the formation of an environmentally derived corona (i.e., eco-corona) in seawater accounts for NP physical–chemical alterations, rebounding on interaction with living organisms and toxicity

Consensus based optimization with memory effects: random selection and applications

In this work we extend the class of Consensus-Based Optimization (CBO) metaheuristic methods by considering memory effects and a random selection strategy. The proposed algorithm iteratively updates a population of particles according to a consensus dynamics inspired by social interactions among individuals. The consensus point is computed taking into account the past positions of all particles. While sharing features with the popular Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method, the exploratory behavior is fundamentally different and allows better control over the convergence of the particle system. We discuss some implementation aspects which lead to an increased efficiency while preserving the success rate in the optimization process. In particular, we show how employing a random selection strategy to discard particles during the computation improves the overall performance. Several benchmark problems and applications to image segmentation and Neural Networks training are used to validate and test the proposed method. A theoretical analysis allows to recover convergence guarantees under mild assumptions on the objective function. This is done by first approximating the particles evolution with a continuous-in-time dynamics, and then by taking the mean-field limit of such dynamics. Convergence to a global minimizer is finally proved at the mean-field level

Aripiprazole Improves Depressive Symptoms and Immunological Response to Antiretroviral Therapy in an HIV-Infected Subject with Resistant Depression

Aripiprazole is the first medication approved by the FDA as an add-on treatment for MDD. The impact of aripiprazole on the response to HIV is unknown. The patient we report on was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1997 and has been treated with antiretroviral therapy since then. In 2008, we diagnosed resistant major depression, hypochondria, and panic disorder. On that occasion, blood tests showed a significantly reduced CD4 count and a positive viral load. We treated this patient with aripiprazole and citalopram. Mood, somatic symptoms, and occupational functioning progressively improved. The last blood examination showed an increase in the CD4 count and a negative viral load. On the basis of the present case study and the review of the literature concerning the effects of psychotropic agents on viral replication, we suggest that the use of aripiprazole in HIV-infected subjects warrants further research

Study on Council Directive 92/83/EEC on the structures of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages. Final Report Volume 1 – Main Text June

The purpose of this Study is to contribute to the Impact Assessment of a possible revision of Council Directive 1992/83/EEC on the harmonisation of the structure of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The Study includes a baseline assessment of a series of issues emerged from the previous evaluation of the Directive and analyses how these problems may evolve if no EU action is taken. Secondly, the Study formulates a set of possible policy options to address these problems, assesses their likely impacts (legal certainty, market functioning, administrative costs, tax revenues, alcohol control policies, fraud etc.), and compares the outcome with the baseline situation. The main issues analysed in this Study includes: the uncertainties in the excise duty classification of certain new ‘borderline’ products; the functioning of Article 27 concerning the exemptions extended to denatured alcohol; the reduced rates applicable to low-strength alcoholic beverages and to small producers; the exemption for private production and home consumption; and the disparities of methods for measuring the Plato degree of sweetened and flavoured beer. The underlying evidence is based on the triangulation of in-depth interviews with stakeholders from the Member States, the results of an open public consultation online, a quantitative analysis of the market, and the review of other literature and documentary sources

Reporting of Biomass Burning under the LULUCF sector. Comparative assessment of data reported under the UNFCCC and EFFIS.

The land use, Land use Change and forestry (LULUCF) sector is one of the six sector included in the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventories that Annex I Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol (KP) must submit annually. The sector covers anthropogenic emissions of GHGs and their removals by terrestrial carbon pool: living biomass, dead organic matter and soil organic carbon, disaggregated into six main land use categories: Forest land, Cropland, Grassland, Wetlands, Settlements and Other land. Moreover, additional sources of emissions - as those resulting from Biomass burning have also to be reported. The GHG inventories prepared by the Parties should use comparable methodologies provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the information provided should be Transparent, Accurate, Comparable, Consistency and Complete. In addition, the IPCC Guidelines considers, as integral parts of the GHG inventory process, the implementation of quality control / quality assurance (QA/QC) and verification procedures that are intended to establish the reliability of the information contained in the inventory. This reports contains a comparative assessment of Biomass burning data reported to the UNFCCC by 5 selected Member States with the information contained in the European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS). The aim is to verify data reported to UNFCCC and to test the utility and feasibility of the use of EFFIS as a tool for the verification of EU MS GHG inventories. Noticeable differences among the data reported in the data sets were found and they would need to be explained. But, in overall, the findings raised in this report suggest that EFFIS data has a good potential as a tool for developing verification procedures of the Biomass burning data and even, it may be used to support the estimates of burned areas in the case that this information is not available at country level.JRC.H.3-Forest Resources and Climat

Harmonized Methods for Assessing Carbon Sequestration in European Forests

The MASCAREF (Study under EEC 2152/2003 Forest Focus regulation on developing harmonized methods for assessing carbon sequestration in European forests) project was conducted by a consortium of 10 European institutions coordinated by IFER ¿ Institute of Forest Ecosystem Research, Czech Republic. The overall objective of this project was to contribute to the development of a monitoring scheme for carbon sequestration in forests of the European Union (EU). Specifically, the project aimed at i) strengthening and harmonizing the existing national systems to better meet the requirements of international monitoring and reporting of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and sinks and ii) improving the comparability, transparency and accuracy of the GHG inventory reports of the Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector of the EU Member States, as implemented in the EC Monitoring Mechanism. This project represents a step towards addressing the challenges of GHG inventories and the reporting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto protocol related to forest land and forest activities. Reflecting the heterogeneity in land use, natural conditions and monitoring data availability, there is a wide variety in greenhouse gas reporting practices within the European Community, which becomes clearly apparent from an overview of the current GHG reporting practices prepared by MASCAREF. The particular tasks of the project were based on available data from regional, national and EU-wide projects and relevant activities that took place over the last decade. The project elaboration was conducted within several major tasks, followed by selected regional case-studies. Firstly, the currently available data and methodological approaches to estimate carbon stock and carbon stock change for emission inventories were analyzed. Secondly, the project conducted an analysis of ICP Forests health monitoring and Forest Focus programs. Similarly, it assessed the potential of utilizing data from the European National Forest Inventories for the purpose of emission inventory under UNFCCC and the Kyoto protocol. Related to this, the JRC AFOLUDATA website on biomass functions and conversion/expansion factors http://afoludata.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php/public_area/home) was complemented by adding new factors from the European member states. Also, the methodologies to aggregate the forest carbon stock data based on the National Forest Inventory plots to a 10x10 km grid were explored. Finally, several of the above tasks were elaborated and/or applied in case studies in the selected regions of Europe. The MASCAREF project fulfilled its main objectives and its results should facilitate a further development of monitoring schemes for carbon stock change assessment in forests of the European member states, hopefully leading to an improved GHG reportingJRC.DDG.H.2-Climate chang