3-Day-Ahead Forecasting of Regional Pollution Index for the Pollutants NO2, CO, SO2, and O3 Using Artificial Neural Networks in Athens, Greece

The difficulty in forecasting concentration trends with a reasonable error is still an open problem. In this paper, an effort has been made to this purpose. Artificial Neural Networks are used in order to forecast the maximum daily value of the European Regional Pollution Index as well as the number of consecutive hours, during the day, with at least one of the pollutants above a threshold concentration, 24 to 72 h ahead. The prediction concerns seven different places within the Greater Athens Area, Greece. The meteorological and air pollution data used in this study have been recorded by the network of the Greek Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning, and Public Works over a 5-year period, 2001–2005. The hourly values of air pressure and global solar irradiance for the same period have been recorded by the National Observatory of Athens. The results are in a very good agreement with the real-monitored data at a statistical significance level of p?<?0.01.     

A Computational Approach Based on GIS Technology for the Development of an Anthropogenic Emission Inventory of Gaseous Pollutants in Greece

This paper describes a computational system developed for the compilation of an anthropogenic emission inventory of gaseous pollutants for Greece. The inventory was developed using a geographical information system integrated with SQL programming language to provide high temporal gridded emission fields for CO, NO₂, NO, SO₂, NH₃ and 23 non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) species for the reference year 2003. Activity and statistical data from national sources were used for the quantification of emissions from the road transport, the other mobile sources and machinery sectors and from range activities using top-down or bottom-up methodologies. Annual emission data from existing national and European emission databases were also used. The emission data were spatially and temporally disaggregated using source-specific spatiotemporal indicators. On national scale, the road transport sector produces about 60% of the annual CO and NMVOC total emissions, with gasoline vehicles being the main CO and NMVOC emissions source. The road transport is responsible for approximately half of the higher alkanes and for more than half of the ethene and toluene emissions. The maritime sector accounts for about 40% of the annual total NO_x emissions, most of which are emitted by the international shipping subsector, whilst SO₂ is emitted mainly by the energy sector. The evaluation of the emissions inventory suggests that it provides a good representation of the amounts of gaseous pollutants emitted on national scale and a good characterisation of the relative composition of CO and NO_x emission in the large urban centres.     

Phytophthora genome sequences uncover evolutionary origins and mechanisms of pathogenesis

Draft genome sequences have been determined for the soybean pathogen Phytophthora sojae and the sudden oak death pathogen Phytophthora ramorum. O?mycetes such as these Phytophthora species share the kingdom Stramenopila with photosynthetic algae such as diatoms, and the presence of many Phytophthora genes of probable phototroph origin supports a photosynthetic ancestry for the stramenopiles. Comparison of the two species' genomes reveals a rapid expansion and diversification of many protein families associated with plant infection such as hydrolases, ABC transporters, protein toxins, proteinase inhibitors, and, in particular, a superfamily of 700 proteins with similarity to known o?mycete avirulence genes.     

Strong fisheries management and governance positively impact ecosystem status

Fisheries have had major negative impacts on marine ecosystems, and effective fisheries management and governance are needed to achieve sustainable fisheries, biodiversity conservation goals and thus good ecosystem status. To date, the IndiSeas programme (Indicators for the Seas) has focussed on assessing the ecological impacts of fishing at the ecosystem scale using ecological indicators. Here, we explore fisheries ‘Management Effectiveness’ and ‘Governance Quality’ and relate this to ecosystem health and status. We developed a dedicated expert survey, focused at the ecosystem level, with a series of questions addressing aspects of management and governance, from an ecosystem‐based perspective, using objective and evidence‐based criteria. The survey was completed by ecosystem experts (managers and scientists) and results analysed using ranking and multivariate methods. Results were further examined for selected ecosystems, using expert knowledge, to explore the overall findings in greater depth. Higher scores for ‘Management Effectiveness’ and ‘Governance Quality’ were significantly and positively related to ecosystems with better ecological status. Key factors that point to success in delivering fisheries and conservation objectives were as follows: the use of reference points for management, frequent review of stock assessments, whether Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) catches were being accounted for and addressed, and the inclusion of stakeholders. Additionally, we found that the implementation of a long‐term management plan, including economic and social dimensions of fisheries in exploited ecosystems, was a key factor in successful, sustainable fisheries management. Our results support the thesis that good ecosystem‐based management and governance, sustainable fisheries and healthy ecosystems go together.     

Antioxidant properties of malt model systems

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of kilning and roasting temperatures on antioxidant activity of malt model systems prepared from combinations of glucose, proline, and ferulic acid. Model systems (initial a(w) = 0.09, 6% moisture) were heated at 60 degrees C for up to 24 h, at 90 degrees C for up to 120 min, and at 220 degrees C for up to 15 min. The antioxidant activity of the glucose-proline-ferulic acid model system increased significantly on heating at 60 degrees C for 24 h or at 90 degrees C for 120 min. In contrast, the glucose-proline, ferulic acid-glucose, and ferulic acid-proline systems presented either nonsignificantly increased or unchanged antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of both the glucose-proline-ferulic acid and glucose-proline model systems increased significantly after heating at 220 degrees C for 10 min, followed by a significant decrease at 15 min. The data suggest that (1) at 60 degrees C, ferulic acid reacts with Maillard reaction products, resulting in a significant increase in antioxidant activity; (2) at 90 degrees C, the antioxidant activity of the glucose-proline-ferulic system comes from both ferulic acid and Maillard reaction products; and (3) at 220 degrees C, the major contributors to antioxidant activity in glucose-proline-ferulic acid and glucose-proline systems are glucose-proline reaction products.