Tourism in the Mediterranean: Scenarios up to 2030. MEDPRO Report No. 1/July 2011- (updated May 2013)

From 1990 to 2010, the 11 countries of the south-eastern Mediterranean region (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey, hereafter SMCs) recorded the highest growth rates in inbound world tourism. In the same period, domestic tourism in these countries also increased rapidly, which is astonishing given the security risks, natural disasters, oil prices rises and economic uncertainties in the region. Even the 2008 financial crisis had no severe impact on this growth, confirming the resilience of tourism and the huge potential of the SMCs in this sector. The Arab Spring brought this trend to an abrupt halt in early 2011, but it may resume after 2014 with the gradual democratisation process, despite the economic slowdown of the European Union – its main market. This paper looks at whether this trend will continue up to 2030, and provides four different possible scenarios for the development of the tourism sector in SMCs for 2030: i) reference scenario, ii) common (cooperation) sustainable development scenario, iii) polarised (regional) development scenario and iv) failed development – decline and conflict – scenario. In all cases, international and domestic tourist arrivals will increase. However, three main factors will strongly influence the development of the tourism sector in the SMCs: security, competitiveness linked to the efficient use of ICT, and adjustment to climate change

Tourism scenarios for 2025, 2035 and 2050

El milagro del excepcional crecimiento del turismo desde el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial se ha convertido en un espejismo con la COVID19. ¿Tenemos que creer en su eterna resiliencia? ¿Veremos sus límites? Esta tesis doctoral supone que el turismo sólo puede durar si es responsable y solidario y si forma parte de políticas sociales y medioambientales, progresivas y territoriales en el entorno de la globalización, de una Sociedad – Mundo. Esta tesis fue escrita en dos etapas: antes y durante la pandemia del COVID19. Después de describir el estado de la literatura turística, con un enfoque particular en los aspectos filosóficos, antropológicos, sociales y ambientales de la investigación académica, institucional y profesional, el doctorante había pedido a más de 100 expertos turísticos, en 2019, que acordaran cómo podría ser el turismo después de 2025, 2035 y hasta 2050. Se han recibido muy pocas respuestas. Esta investigación tuvo que reanudarse durante la pandemia, en noviembre de 2020, con un cuestionario más escueto, gracias a la herramienta de opinión Likert. Esta vez, 77 profesores, profesionales, funcionarios territoriales y periodistas respondieron. Los resultados muestran un conservadurismo relativo de quienes trabajan en el turismo. Sin embargo, después de la pandemia, ha sido necesario introducir algunos cambios. Tres escenarios los explican, la primera tendencia conduce al desorden; la segunda demasiado centrada en el simple desarrollo sostenible en una economía ultra-liberal con más desigualdades, mientras que la tercera nos trae esperanza. Al elegir la economía circular y colaborativa con la aceleración de la digitalización del sector, se puede creer en un desarrollo sostenible y armonioso, en primer lugar, de los destinos locales, pero también, tomando precauciones y luchando contra el cambio climático, más allá en un espacio internacional. En cualquier caso, se requerirán más leyes, más regulación y más normas internacionales.Le miracle de la croissance exceptionnelle du tourisme depuis la fin de la 2ème Guerre Mondiale est devenu mirage avec la COVID19. Faut-il croire à son éternelle résilience, ne voit-on pas déjà ses limites ? Cette thèse de doctorat émet l’hypothèse que le tourisme ne pourra durer que s’il est responsable et solidaire et s’il s’inscrit dans des politiques sociales et environnementales progressistes et territoriales dans le cadre de la mondialisation, celui d’une Société – Monde. Cette thèse fut écrite en deux temps : avant et pendant la pandémie. Après avoir décrit l’état de la littérature touristique, en se penchant plus particulièrement sur les aspects philosophiques, anthropologiques, sociaux et environnementaux des recherches académiques, institutionnelles et professionnelles, le doctorant avait demandé en 2019 à plus de cent experts du tourisme de se rassembler sur un consensus sur ce que pourrait être le tourisme après 2025, 2035 et à l’horizon 2050. Peu de réponses lui sont parvenues. Il a fallu reprendre cette enquête durant la pandémie en noviembre 2020 de manière plus légère grâce à l’outil d’opinions Likert. Cette fois-ci, 77 professeurs, professionnels, responsables territoriaux et journalistes ont répondu. Les résultats montrent un relatif conservatisme de ceux qui oeuvrent dans le tourisme. Pourtant après la pandémie, des changements auront lieu. Trois scénarios les expliquent, le premier tendanciel conduit à des désordres, le second trop axé sur le simple développement durable dans une économie ultralibérale à plus d’inégalités, le troisième est porteur d’espoirs. Grâce au choix de l’économie circulaire et collaborative et à l’accélération de la digitalisation du secteur, il peut permettre un développement durable et harmonieux, en premier lieu, des destinations de proximité, mais aussi, en prenant des précautions et en luttant contre le changement climatique, plus loin dans un espace international. Dans tous les cas, il faudra plus de lois, plus de réglementation, plus de normes et de standards internationaux.The miracle of the exceptional growth of tourism since the end of the Second World War has become a mirage with the COVID19. Do we have to believe in his eternal resilience, do we not already see his limits? This doctoral dissertation hypothesizes that tourism can only last if it is responsible and supportive and if it is part of progressive and territorial social - environmental policies within globalization in the Society - World. This dissertation was written in two stages: before and during the pandemic. After describing the state of tourism literature, with a particular focus on the philosophical, anthropological, social and environmental aspects of academic, institutional and professional research, the PhD student had asked more than 100 tourism experts in 2019 to agree on what tourism could be after 2025, 2035 and by 2050. Few answers have come to him. This investigation had to be resumed during the pandemic in November 2020 in a lighter way thanks to the Likert opinion tool. This time, 77 professors, professionals, territorial officials, and journalists responded. The results show a relative conservatism of those who work in tourism. Yet after the pandemic, changes will take place. Three scenarios explain them, the first trend leads to disorder, the second too focused on simple sustainable development in an ultraliberal economy with more inequalities, the third brings hope. By choosing the circular and collaborative economy and accelerating the digitalization of the sector, it can enable sustainable and harmonious development, first of all, local destinations, but also, by taking precautions and combating climate change, further into an international space. In any case, more laws, more regulation, more standards, and more international standards will be required

Stable isotopic labeling in proteomics

Labeling of proteins and peptides with stable heavy isotopes (deuterium, carbon-13, nitrogen-15, and oxygen-18) is widely used in quantitative proteomics. These are either incorporated metabolically in cells and small organisms, or postmetabolically in proteins and peptides by chemical or enzymatic reactions. Only upon measurement with mass spectrometers holding sufficient resolution, light, and heavy labeled peptide ions or reporter peptide fragment ions segregate and their intensity values are subsequently used for quantification. Targeted use of these labels or mass tags further leads to specific monitoring of diverse aspects of dynamic proteomes. In this review article, commonly used isotope labeling strategies are described, both for quantitative differential protein profiling and for targeted analysis of protein modifications

The OsNRAMP1 iron transporter is involved in Cd accumulation in rice

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal toxic to humans and the accumulation of Cd in the rice grain is a major agricultural problem, particularly in Asia. The role of the iron transporter OsNRAMP1 in Cd uptake and transport in rice was investigated here. An OsNRAMP1:GFP fusion protein was localized to the plasma membrane in onion epidermal cells. The growth of yeast expressing OsNRAMP1 was impaired in the presence of Cd compared with yeast transformed with an empty vector. Moreover, the Cd content of OsNRAMP1-expressing yeast exceeded that of the vector control. The expression of OsNRAMP1 in the roots was higher in a high Cd-accumulating cultivar (Habataki) than a low Cd-accumulating cultivar (Sasanishiki) regardless of the presence of Cd, and the amino acid sequence of OsNRAMP1 showed 100% identity between Sasanishiki and Habataki. Over-expression of OsNRAMP1 in rice increased Cd accumulation in the leaves. These results suggest that OsNRAMP1 participates in cellular Cd uptake and Cd transport within plants, and the higher expression of OsNRAMP1 in the roots could lead to an increase in Cd accumulation in the shoots. Our results indicated that OsNRAMP1 is an important protein in high-level Cd accumulation in rice

Systems-wide analysis of manganese deficiency-induced changes in gene activity of Arabidopsis roots

Manganese (Mn) is pivotal for plant growth and development, but little information is available regarding the strategies that evolved to improve Mn acquisition and cellular homeostasis of Mn. Using an integrated RNA-based transcriptomic and high-throughput shotgun proteomics approach, we generated a comprehensive inventory of transcripts and proteins that showed altered abundance in response to Mn deficiency in roots of the model plant Arabidopsis. A suite of 22,385 transcripts was consistently detected in three RNA-seq runs; LC-MS/MS-based iTRAQ proteomics allowed the unambiguous determination of 11,606 proteins. While high concordance between mRNA and protein expression (R = 0.87) was observed for transcript/protein pairs in which both gene products accumulated differentially upon Mn deficiency, only approximately 10% of the total alterations in the abundance of proteins could be attributed to transcription, indicating a large impact of protein-level regulation. Differentially expressed genes spanned a wide range of biological functions, including the maturation, translation, and transport of mRNAs, as well as primary and secondary metabolic processes. Metabolic analysis by UPLC-qTOF-MS revealed that the steady-state levels of several major glucosinolates were significantly altered upon Mn deficiency in both roots and leaves, possibly as a compensation for increased pathogen susceptibility under conditions of Mn deficiency

Plant phenomics, from sensors to knowledge

Major improvements in crop yield are needed to keep pace with population growth and climate change. While plant breeding efforts have greatly benefited from advances in genomics, profiling the crop phenome (i.e., the structure and function of plants) associated with allelic variants and environments remains a major technical bottleneck. Here, we review the conceptual and technical challenges facing plant phenomics. We first discuss how, given plants’ high levels of morphological plasticity, crop phenomics presents distinct challenges compared with studies in animals. Next, we present strategies for multi-scale phenomics, and describe how major improvements in imaging, sensor technologies and data analysis are now making high-throughput root, shoot, whole-plant and canopy phenomic studies possible. We then suggest that research in this area is entering a new stage of development, in which phenomic pipelines can help researchers transform large numbers of images and sensor data into knowledge, necessitating novel methods of data handling and modelling. Collectively, these innovations are helping accelerate the selection of the next generation of crops more sustainable and resilient to climate change, and whose benefits promise to scale from physiology to breeding and to deliver real world impact for ongoing global food security efforts

Structural basis for Mep2 ammonium transceptor activation by phosphorylation

Mep2 proteins are fungal transceptors that play an important role as ammonium sensors in fungal development. Mep2 activity is tightly regulated by phosphorylation, but how this is achieved at the molecular level is not clear. Here we report X-ray crystal structures of the Mep2 orthologues from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans and show that under nitrogen-sufficient conditions the transporters are not phosphorylated and present in closed, inactive conformations. Relative to the open bacterial ammonium transporters, non-phosphorylated Mep2 exhibits shifts in cytoplasmic loops and the C-terminal region (CTR) to occlude the cytoplasmic exit of the channel and to interact with His2 of the twin-His motif. The phosphorylation site in the CTR is solvent accessible and located in a negatively charged pocket ∼30 Å away from the channel exit. The crystal structure of phosphorylation-mimicking Mep2 variants from C. albicans show large conformational changes in a conserved and functionally important region of the CTR. The results allow us to propose a model for regulation of eukaryotic ammonium transport by phosphorylation

Characterizing the role of rice NRAMP5 in Manganese, Iron and Cadmium Transport

Metals like manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) are essential for metabolism, while cadmium (Cd) is toxic for virtually all living organisms. Understanding the transport of these metals is important for breeding better crops. We have identified that OsNRAMP5 contributes to Mn, Fe and Cd transport in rice. OsNRAMP5 expression was restricted to roots epidermis, exodermis, and outer layers of the cortex as well as in tissues around the xylem. OsNRAMP5 localized to the plasma membrane, and complemented the growth of yeast strains defective in Mn, Fe, and Cd transport. OsNRAMP5 RNAi (OsNRAMP5i) plants accumulated less Mn in the roots, and less Mn and Fe in shoots, and xylem sap. The suppression of OsNRAMP5 promoted Cd translocation to shoots, highlighting the importance of this gene for Cd phytoremediation. These data reveal that OsNRAMP5 contributes to Mn, Cd, and Fe transport in rice and is important for plant growth and development