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Inland aquatic ecosystems, such as streams, rivers, ponds and lakes, play an important role in maintaining global aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services. They have been increasingly influenced by environmental change such as global warming, dam construction, habitat fragmentation, eutrophication and urbanization. However, our understanding of the impact of global change on aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem functions remains elusive. The aim of this special issue is to highlight the ecological indicators of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem functions under global change. The special issue comprises 18 papers including both review and research articles. These papers cover a wide range of research topics, including testing ecological theory, environmental indicator development, biodiversity monitoring and bioassessment. By covering a broad taxonomic range from bacteria and phytoplankton to fish and spanning large spatial (much of Eurasia) and temporal scales (from one season to 25-years observations and 100-years paleo-reconstruction), these articles provide an overview of ecological phenomena from population and community perspectives. Several important implications emerged from these studies: (1) The studies of the long-term succession of biotic community provide important insights into the impacts of human activities and climatic changes on conservation and management of aquatic ecosystems; (2) Anthropogenic activities strongly affect aquatic biodiversity via modifying aquatic habitats and reducing habitat heterogeneity; (3) Biotic assemblages are valuable to for assessing the ecological status of freshwater ecosystems; (4) Aquatic ecosystems have unique characteristics different from other ecosystems, as the underlying drivers and assembly mechanisms of community structure in these ecosystems are highly distinct. Together, the selection of studies reinforces the importance of long-term monitoring, ecological indicator development, and applications of ecological theory in helping us to understand the response of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning to global change.

Despite the management strategies implemented, urban waste management in Algeria is a massive concern, especially entities in charge focus primarily on eliminating waste, neglecting material and energy use which might have a substantial environmental impact. This study uses combined urban metabolism analysis and EF assessment model to estimate the surface required to absorb greenhouse gas (GHG) generated, intending to demonstrate the reliability of Ecological Footprint (EF) as an environmental indicator in managing activities related to product manufacturing and waste management. Therefore, the research considers two neighboring coastal cities Algiers and Tipaza, contrasting demographically and economically. The results obtained from urban metabolism demonstrate that material produced from raw inputs is associated with higher GHG emissions. Similarly, emissions generated from waste management activities are dominated by transportation at more than 40% in both cities. Thus, proportional to the amount of GHGs emitted, EF in terms of energy is higher in the disposed material representing 90% consumer goods' EF compared to the Diverted material. These emissions require a total amount of 578 190.05 gha and 92 950.7gha in Algiers and Tipaza respectively. As for waste management, transportation requires the most significant EF values exceeding 5 thousand gha to sequester carbon in Algiers. Eventually, the investigations reveal disparities in data collection and structure in both cities and shortcomings in waste management. Thus, this empirical study highlights EF's reliability for understanding the tangible impact of economic growth on the environment that supports the development of cities.

Climate policies that achieve air quality co-benefits can better align developing countries’ national interests with global climate mitigation. Since the effects of air pollutants are highly dependent on source locations, spatially nuanced policies are crucial to maximizing the achievement of co-benefits. Using the coal power industry as a case study, this study presents an interdisciplinary approach to assessing facility level co-benefits at every specific source location in China. We find that co-benefits range from US$51-$278 per ton CO2 reduction nationwide and are highly heterogeneous spatially, with “hotspot” regions that should be the priority of emissions reduction policies, and that provinces should use different techno-economic strategies to reduce emissions. The location-specific co-benefit value plus a carbon price serves as a unified environmental indicator that enables policy makers to more accurately understand the social costs of electricity generation from coal burning and provides a scientific framework for geographically nuanced policymaking., Spatially nuanced policies are necessary for maximising co-benefits of carbon-emissions reduction from coal-fired power plants. Here the authors present an approach integrating costs of CO2 and air pollution emissions to better understand social costs of electricity generation from coal burning in China.

[ES] La actividad humana contribuye en gran medida al aumento de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI), precursores del cambio climático. Dado su efecto global, es fundamental que las organizaciones midan y controlen sus emisiones como punto de partida para implantar medidas de reducción. La huella de carbono de una corporación se define como el resultado de cuantificar los GEI emitidos directa o indirectamente a la atmósfera en el desarrollo de su actividad en un año determinado. El objetivo del trabajo es calcular la huella de carbono de la empresa Kiwa España en 2020. Se presentará información sobre la base metodológica, los datos de actividad recogidos, los factores de emisión utilizados y los resultados absolutos y relativos obtenidos. Se seguirá la ¿Guía para el cálculo de la huella de carbono¿, del Ministerio de la Transición ecológica, según el ¿Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard¿. Se redactará un plan de mejora que incluirá medidas correctoras para mejorar el comportamiento ambiental de la empresa. La huella de carbono se configura así, como punto de referencia para el inicio de actuaciones correctoras que aseguren la reducción futura de emisiones GEI., [EN] Human activity contributes greatly to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are precursors to climate change. Given their overall impact, it is critical that organizations measure and control their emissions as a starting point for implementing abatement measures. A corporation¿s carbon footprint is defined as the result of quantifying GHG emitted directly or indirectly to the atmosphere during its activity in a given year. The objective of the work is calculate the carbon footprint of the company Kiwa Spain in 2020. Information shall be provided on the methodological basis, activity data collected, emission factors used and absolute and relative results obtained. The "Guide for the calculation of the carbon footprint" of the Ministry of Ecological Transition will be followed, according to the "Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard". An improvement plan shall be drawn up which shall include corrective measures to improve the environmental performance of the undertaking. The carbon footprint is thus configured as a reference point for implementing corrective actions that ensure the future reduction of GHG emissions.

Purpose: The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been applied in the construction sector since the 1990s and is now more and more embedded in European public policies, e.g., for Environmental Product Declaration regulation or for building labeling schemes. As far as the authors know, these initiatives mainly rely on background impact data of building products provided by different databases' providers. The new product-specific and company-specific EPD data allow having more than one data for describing a building material. But are these new databases really displaying similar LCA results compared to generic databases? Does it depend on which impact category (e.g., global warming, acidification, toxicity) is considered? Methods: To answer these research questions, this paper assesses numerical and methodological differences of two existing LCA databases for building LCAs: the ecoinvent generic database and one Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) database developed in France. After reviewing the main assumptions of these databases, numerical values of environmental impact are compared for 28 building materials using Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) indicators of the EN 15804 standard calculated based on cradle-to-gate ecoinvent and EPD Life Cycle Inventories (LCI). Results and discussion: Global results at the database level indicate deviations of different magnitudes depending on the LCIA indicators and the building materials. While indicators correlated to fossil fuel consumption, such as the ADP, the GWP, and the primary energy demand, exhibit a small deviation (approximately 25%), other indicators, such as the photochemical ozone formation (POCP), radioactive waste, and ADP elements, are found to be more variable between EPD and generic data (sometimes by more than 100%). Three indicators are found to be systematically different between EPD and generic data (i.e., the EPD value being either higher or lower for all materials). Similarly, five building materials show systematic differences for all LCIA indicators. Specific deviations for one indicator and one material are also reported. The application of the two databases on three building LCA case studies (brick, reinforced concrete, and timber frame structures) identifies deviations due to the most influential materials. Conclusions: Current generic and EPD databases can present very different values at the database scale which depend on the type of environmental indicator. For building LCA results, the situation is different as generally speaking a limited number of materials controlled the impacts. Finally, recommendations are presented for each environmental indicator to improve the consistency of the building assessment from generic to product- and country-specific information.

[ES] En los últimos años, los indicadores ambientales se han convertido en una herramienta fundamental en la evaluación y seguimiento ambiental, influyendo significativamente en la gestión ambiental y en el desarrollo de normativas legales. Los indicadores ambientales proporcionan, de una manera simplificada y útil, información integrada procedente de numerosas fuentes. El uso del suelo es una de las principales causas de transformación de los ecosistemas terrestres. Muchos problemas ambientales tienen su origen en el cambio de uso del suelo, que puede llegar a afectar al cambio climático, la pérdida de biodiversidad y la contaminación de aguas, suelos y aire. El uso del suelo en las cercanías de los vertederos de residuos sólidos urbanos puede verse fuertemente alterado por las tareas de gestión de residuos (transporte, vertido y cierre). Los efectos se extienden desde las fases previas a la construcción del vertedero hasta años posteriores a la finalización del proceso de relleno en áreas ubicadas más allá del perímetro de la parcela ocupada por esta infraestructura. En este trabajo se estudia el cambio de uso del suelo en las proximidades de dos vertederos de residuos sólidos urbanos de la Comunidad Valenciana a lo largo del tiempo mediante el índice ambiental WEI (Weighted Environmental Index). El índice ambiental WEI se basa en el uso de técnicas GIS, con datos procedentes del Sistema Español de Información sobre Ocupación de la Tierra (SIOSE) que integran la información sobre el uso y cobertura del suelo en una escala detallada y extensa. El índice ambiental WEI asigna valores ambientales al uso del suelo en función del grado de intervención antropogénica y su superficie de ocupación. En esta investigación se realiza un análisis estadístico multitemporal georreferenciado considerando los valores del WEI previamente asignados a cada uso del suelo. Los resultados demuestran la aplicación del WEI a estudios de casos reales y la importancia de integrar el análisis estadístico de la evolución del WEI a lo largo del tiempo para llegar a una mejor comprensión de los procesos socioeconómicos y ambientales que inducen el cambio de uso de suelo., [EN] In recent years, environmental indicators have become a fundamental tool in environmental evaluation and monitoring, significantly influencing environmental management and the development of legal regulations. Environmental indicators provide, in a simplified and useful way, integrated information from many sources. Land use is one of the main causes of transformation of terrestrial ecosystems. Many environmental problems have their origin in the change of land use, which can affect climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the pollution of water, soil and air. Land use near municipal solid waste landfills can be strongly altered by waste management tasks (transport, dumping and closure). The effects extend from the phases prior to the construction of the landfill to years after the completion of the filling process in areas located beyond the perimeter of the parcel occupied by this infrastructure. This work studies the change in land use near two municipal solid waste landfills in the Valencian Region over time using the WEI (Weighted Environmental Index). The WEI environmental index is based on the use of GIS techniques, with data from the Spanish Land Occupation Information System (SIOSE) that integrate information on land use and land cover on a detailed and extensive scale. The WEI environmental index assigns environmental values to land use based on the degree of anthropogenic intervention and its area of occupation. In this research, a georeferenced multitemporal statistical analysis is carried out considering the WEI values previously assigned to each land use. The results demonstrate the application of the WEI to real case studies and the importance of integrating the statistical analysis of the evolution of the WEI over time to reach a better understanding of the socioeconomic and environmental processes that induce land use change.

Background Third Fork Creek is a historically impaired urban stream that flows through the city of Durham, North Carolina. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are non-parasitic, soil and aquatic dwelling nematodes that have been used frequently as a biological and ecotoxicity model. We hypothesize that exposure to Third Fork Creek surface water will inhibit the reproduction and chemotaxis of C. elegans. Using our ring assay model, nematodes were enticed to cross the impaired water samples to reach a bacterial food source which allowed observation of chemotaxis. The total number of nematodes found in the bacterial food source and the middle of the plate with the impaired water source was recorded for three days. Results Our findings suggest a reduction in chemotaxis and reproduction on day three in nematodes exposed to Third Fork Creek water samples when compared to the control (pvalueConclusions Further studies are necessary to elucidate the concentrations of the water contaminants and implications for human health. The relevance of this study lies within the model C. elegans, that has been used in a plethora of human diseases and exposure research but can be utilized as an environmental indicator of water quality impairment.

Objective: To propose the landscape as an environmental indicator that spatially and temporally, describes, analyzes, and evaluates territory, by changing some natural, social, economic, and cultural components. Approach: Different methodological concepts of the landscape and environmental indicators were reviewed, as well as their characteristics to describe and evaluate the environment. Results: It was found that the landscape is a comprehensive analysis method for the study of the environment, by selecting the parameters that describe and represent each landscape, through shapes, size, colors, textures, shadows, patterns, situations, associated features, and structures arranged under a spatial and temporal order which, when perceived by humans, present a given form of organization or disorganization in the environment. Implications: The environmental indicator allows to analyze and evaluate the changes in space and time, with updated qualitative and quantitative research. These changes play an important role in building the perception of environmental problems through the landscape. Conclusion: Landscape is an integral component that describes the biotic and abiotic elements of a given space. While, as an environmental indicator, it analyzes and evaluates changes in the composition and configuration of the environment, both spatially and temporally.

Purpose of Review: The 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG) have been criticised for making only brief reference to sustainability considerations. With the ADG currently under review, the purpose of this rapid review was to determine the environmental impacts associated with food consumption in Australia and New Zealand. Recent Findings: Of the 20 articles included, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) were the most common environmental indicator (n = 12), followed by water use and water footprint (n = 7), and carbon footprint (n = 3). Whilst there are commonalities between different environmental indicators such as the large impact of discretionary food consumption on GHGe, cropland scarcity footprint, and water scarcity footprint, there is wide variation in these indicators for other food groups. Furthermore, modelling of current food consumption data to the recommended diet does not necessarily result in improvement of all indicators. Summary: The next iteration of the ADG should promote consumption of foods and dietary patterns that are associated with positive health and environmental outcomes Refereed/Peer-reviewed

We present a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the operation of Casey Station in Antarctica. The LCA included quantifying material and energy flows, modeling of elementary flows, and subsequent environmental impacts. Environmental impacts were dominated by emissions associated with freight operations and electricity cogeneration. A participatory design approach was used to identify options to reduce environmental impacts, which included improving freight efficiency, reducing the temperature setpoint of the living quarters, and installing alternative energy systems. These options were then assessed using LCA, and have the potential to reduce environmental impacts by between 2% and 19.1%, depending on the environmental indicator.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management contributes substantially to climate change. The greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from waste collection and landfill activities have a significant contribution. The carbon footprint is an important environmental indicator to express GHG emissions. Nowadays in Luanda, the capital and largest city of Angola, more than 2 million tonnes per year of unselected MSW are sent to landfill. The aim of this work is to evaluate the carbon footprint related to MSW in Luanda. The methodologies used to quantify the carbon footprint were based on the guidelines of the IPCC and the GHG Protocol of greenhouse gases emissions associated with MSW anaerobic decomposition, from the daily operations of the landfill site. The results show that direct landfill emissions are the major contributions to GHG accounting. Keywords: Carbon footprint, Greenhouse gases, Landfill, Municipal solid waste

UNICIENCIA Vol. 34, N° 1, pp. 189-203. Enero-Junio, 2020 URL: www.revistas.una.ac.cr/uniciencia La cuantificación y medición de la huella hídrica permite analizar y tener un control sobre la gestión ambiental de la institución, además de tomar acciones que integren la totalidad de la población universitaria, orientando todos los esfuerzos hacia un desarrollo sustentable. El objetivo de la investigación es cuantificar y calcular la huella hídrica azul institucional para el periodo 2012-2016, con el fin de analizar y comparar, así, su comportamiento en el tiempo, de acuerdo con las variables contempladas en el cálculo, consumo de agua, consumo de combustible fósil, papel y energía eléctrica (puesto que se consideran fundamentales para el desenvolvimiento y funcionalidad de actividades institucionales). Se aplicó la metodología de Hoekstra y Chapagain, expuesta en el Manual de evaluación de la huella hídrica; con los factores de huella hídrica y agua virtual, tomados de Water Footprint Network, se obtuvo la cantidad correspondiente a cada rubro. Como resultado, entre el 2012 y el 2015, se llegó a una disminución del 8 % de la huella hídrica, pasando de 966 432 m3 a 888 693 m3. Mientras tanto, en el 2016, se alcanzó un leve aumento, dando un valor total de 891 976 m3. Quantifying and measuring the water footprint allows for the analysis and control over the environmental management of the institution and helps integrate college population, thus directing all efforts towards a sustainable development. The objective of this research is to quantify and calculate the institutional blue water footprint for the 2012-2016 period to analyze and compare its behavior over time, according to the variables included in the calculation such as consumption of water, fossil fuel, reams of paper and electrical energy (since they are important for the function and performance of institutional activities). The methodology applied was the one described by Hoekstra and Chapagain in the Water Footprint Assessment Manual, as well as the water footprint and virtual water factors taken from the Water Footprint Network. The corresponding amount was obtained for each item. As a result, between 2012 and 2015, the Institutional Water Footprint decreased 8%, from 966 432 m3 to 888 693 m3, while in 2016 it slightly increased to 891 976 m3. A quantificação e mensuração da pegada hídrica permite analisar e controlar a gestão ambiental da instituição, além de realizar ações que integram toda a população universitária, orientando todos os esforços em direção ao desenvolvimento sustentável. O objetivo da pesquisa é quantificar e calcular a pegada hídrica azul institucional entre 2012 e 2016, a fim de analisar e comparar, assim, seu comportamento ao longo do tempo, de acordo com as variáveis contempladas no cálculo, como o consumo de água , o consumo de combustíveis fósseis, resmas de papel e energia eléctrica (por serem considerados essenciais para o desenvolvimento e a funcionalidade das atividades institucionais). A metodologia de Hoekstra e Chapagain, estabelecida no Manual de Avaliação da Pegada Hídrica, foi aplicada e, com os fatores de pegada hídrica e água virtual, obtidos da Water Footprint Network, foi obtido o valor correspondente a cada item. Como resultado, entre 2012 e 2015, foi alcançada uma redução de 8% na pegada hídrica, de 966 432 m3 para 888 693 m3. Enquanto isso, em 2016, foi alcançado um ligeiro aumento, totalizando 891 976 m3. Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica

In this paper we consider buffering properties of saliva, which are regulated by a colloidal system. It includes Ca2+ and НPO42- ions, which affect on qualitative characteristics of saliva. The constancy of the pH determines neutralizing and mineralizing capabilities of saliva. The aim of this work was to define influence of toothpaste composition on the pH, salivary buffer systems, and the acid-base balance in the oral cavity. The acid-base disruption results in disbalance in demineralization-remineralization processes. Students of the Dentistry Department of Kirov State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of Russia took part in this research. They were divided into three groups. Each group had been using different products for 28 days. We selected 3 toothpastes of the same manufacturer. These toothpastes contain same ingredients, which by their chemical properties are not able to affect on the pH of the oral fluid and salivary buffer systems accordingly. However, there were distinctive components such as dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, hydroxyapatite, tetrapotassium pyrophosphate, calcium lactate, which increase НРО42- and Ca2+. This fact has a positive effect on maintaining fixity of the phosphate buffer system in the oral cavity. It therefore helps to normalize the pH to a neutral level. The acid-base equilibrium is supported by buffering properties of saliva. It knows that saliva is regulated by the colloidal system including Ca2+ and НPO42- ions. These ions are part of the phosphate buffer system, which affect on qualitative characteristics of saliva. Based on the above, there is dependence between the row of toothpaste ingredients and protein level, hydrogen phosphate ions, calcium ions, and pH values.

As maiores árvores foram as primeiras a serem extraídas das florestas. Desta forma, há poucos registros dos tamanhos dos indivíduos arbóreos de grande porte, o que gera desconhecimento sobre muitas espécies ameaçadas de extinção. O objetivo desta nota técnica foi mensurar os monumentos históricos de troncos de Araucaria angustifolia e Ocotea porosa e comparar com a situação atual dos remanescentes florestais. Monumentos de troncos acima de 2 m de diâmetro foram amostrados em ambas as espécies. Os monumentos foram visitados in loco, foram obtidos os registros biométricos de perímetro do tronco por meio de amostragem preferencial. Esses foram comparados com árvores vivas catalogadas nos inventários florestais estaduais, ressaltam a perda de grandes árvores e destacam a degradação ambiental pela ausência delas. Tais monumentos de grandes árvores serviram como indicadores ambientais e são um patrimônio natural que deve ser preservado e estudado pela ciência, assim como as últimas grandes árvores na Mata Atlântica. Novas políticas públicas de catalogação de árvores de grande porte devem ser priorizadas. É também necessário que a classificação de tamanho das maiores árvores seja disponibilizada para a sociedade, visando à preservação ambiental, estudos científicos, manejo e turismo de natureza.

The benthic communities dominated by the mussel Brachidontes rodriguezii (d’ Orbigny, 1846) are distributed in most of the rocky intertidal shores of temperate coastal areas of the SW Atlantic. The objective of this study was to review the changes that have placed in the intertidal zone of the mussel community over the past 50 years in Mar del Plata city (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). From the original description (1966) of the community considered as a baseline, two anthropogenic agents were identified over time: (1) the introduction of non-indigenous species, and (2) the effect of the sewage pollution. Both agents impacted the benthic community, changing their vertical distribution, structure, and species composition. The belt barnacles formation in the upper intertidal zone and the reefs formed by the invader polychaete Boccardia proboscidea Hartman, 1940 were the main changes registered in the intertidal community. In the last 50 years, epilithic intertidal community results in a good indicator of anthropogenic pressures in the ecosystem of the SW Atlantic coastal area. Fil: Llanos, Elizabeth Noemi. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Jaubet, Maria Lourdes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Elias, Rodolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina

The objective of this work was to perform a techno-economic and environmental assessment of several technological alternatives for production of whey syrups and protein concentrate (WPC) via process simulation under two scenarios: Stand-alone process and process attached to a cheese production plant. Information related to different industrial dairy processes (parameters, variables and diagrams) was consulted and gathered. A base case and three alternative technological configurations for production of whey syrups and WPC were designed. SuperPro Designer was employed as the process simulation tool and for the techno-economic assessment of the technological configurations, and WARGUI software was used for their environmental evaluation. A combined techno-economic and environmental indicator was calculated to identify the best alternative. The alternative involving the production of WPC, glucose syrup, and glucose and fructose syrup had the best economic indicators (net present value of $3,381,000 and $16,354,000 for the stand-alone and attached processes, respectively). This alternative had a Potential Environmental Impact of 14,510 PEI/kg products for both scenarios. Water recovery from different waste streams was simulated, managing to reuse 322,338,477 kg water/year. The implementation of a process for producing whey syrups and WPC attached to a cheese production facility has the potential to generate a significant profitability for the dairy industries in a middle-income country like Colombia. Simulation techniques employed are a powerful supporting tool when making decisions in investment projects for valorization of waste from the food industry in order to find the most appropriate process configuration.

Summary: Proliferating cells need to evaluate the environment to determine the optimal timing for cell cycle entry. However, how this is achieved is not well understood. Here, we show that, in budding yeast, the G1 inhibitor Whi5 is a key environmental indicator and plays a crucial role in coordinating cell growth and division. We found that, under a variety of nutrient and stress conditions, Whi5 amount in G1 is proportional to the cell’s doubling time in the environment, which in turn influences the timing for the next cell cycle entry. In addition, the coordination between division and environment is further fine-tuned in G1 by environmentally dependent growth rate, G1 cyclin-Cdk1 contribution, and Whi5 threshold at the start. Our results show that the cell stores the past environmental information in Whi5, which works together with other mechanisms sensing the current environmental condition to achieve an adaptive cellular decision making process. : Qu et al. find that the level of the cell cycle inhibitor Whi5 is proportional to the doubling time of the past cell cycle across a variety of nutrient and stress conditions. Thus, both past and current environmental information is utilized in coordinating cell growth and division. Keywords: Whi5, cellular memory, cell cycle control, environment sensing, cellular decision making, cell growth and division

The paper analyses the long-term international and domestic experience in the development and implementation of indicators and indices of sustainable development of regions, the quality of the urban environment and environmental safety. At present, there is no any commonly recognized integral environmental indicator. In Russia, indicators and indexes are developed mainly for regions, and to a lesser extent, for cities and urban districts. Widely used environmental indicators are insufficient and they do not cover the geoenvironmental indicators that are part of them and that are necessary for the comprehensive assessment of urban area safety. The conceptual approach to the evaluation of environmental hazards is presented. The development of the geoenvironmental safety index is complicated to a certain extent by the current lack of open-access information in the state statistics necessary for the calculation.

Today's society is increasingly aware of food consumption patterns. Under the perspective that real consumption trends are often not in line with healthy recommendations, this research focuses on the study of the environmental and nutritional sustainability of two types of food consumption habits present in the northern Atlantic area of Spain (Galicia). The main objective is, therefore to detect the existing deviations between the current Galician diet (GD) and the traditional and increasingly relevant Recommended Atlantic Diet (RAD), allowing verifying whether current consumption patterns ensure an optimal and sustainable nutritional profile. In this sense, the carbon footprint from a Life Cycle Assessment perspective has been estimated as environmental indicator of both dietary patterns and, the nutritional quality has been determined by the Nutrient Rich Diet 9.3 index and the Health gain score. The carbon footprint of both dietary models is moderately high compared to recommended diets such as the Mediterranean one. Comparing the two scenarios, the associated greenhouse gas emissions are about 15% higher for GD than for RAD, mainly due to the higher intake of beef and dairy products. On the other hand, nutritional quality is comparatively higher for RAD than for GD, associated with higher consumption of vegetables and fruits. An additional objective of this work has been to consider a sensitivity analysis to determine the effect of replacing beef with alternative sources. Having in mind this study, it can be concluded that the real consumption pattern in Galicia is far from the recommended one, with worse environmental and nutritional quality. The promotion of social awareness policies to guide consumers in the choice a healthier and more environmentally sustainable dietary pattern should be advisable for regional decision-makers as well as for those who wish to promote adherence to the Atlantic diet in other regions and countries This research has been supported by a project granted by Xunta de Galicia (project ref. ED431F 2016/001). Dr. S. González-Garcia would like to express her gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for financial support (grant reference RYC-2014-14984). The authors belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group GRC 2013-032 as well as to CRETUS (AGRUP2015/02), co-funded by Xunta de Galicia and FEDER (EU) SI

During the past several decades, the economy of China has increased rapidly with a number of energy and environmental problems such as energy shortage, global warming and river pollution. Considering the typical economic development of Xiangjiang River basin at the cost of energy and environment, this paper measures the energy and environmental efficiency of the Xiangjaing River basin cities and takes the further analysis with the total factor productivity. In order to accurately measure the real impact of cities on rivers, we take the water quality of the upstream and downstream of cities as the environmental indicator. An improved slacks-based measure approach is utilized to evaluate the energy and environmental efficiency of 15 trunk streams and tributaries along the Xiangjiang River basin cities during 2008–2014. The empirical results show the efficiencies of trunk streams and tributaries areas were discrepant even in the same city, but their technical change in the same city had significant similarities during the same period.

Phytoplankton community assessment using functional groups is a powerful tool for lake and reservoir biomonitoring, but its efficiency has only been tested in intersite, low-frequency datasets. Here, we took advantage of a gradient of spatially close, but environmentally contrasting, meso- to hypereutrophic reservoirs in Southeast Brazil, to compare the efficiency of morphology-based functional classification (MBFC), phylum-level, and species-level classification for high-frequency, i.e. monthly, biomonitoring. Monitoring of water physical and chemical characteristics revealed the presence of two independent environmental gradients, with the first being related to total phosphorus and suspended solids concentrations, as well as Secchi depth, and the second related to dissolved inorganic nitrogen, water temperature and pH. The species approach had the highest power to explain environmental variation in assemblage structure (21% vs 16% and 17%, in the phylum and MBFC approaches). Although both simplified classifications showed similar explanatory power, MBFC allowed a better differentiation of reservoir assemblages. As the MBFC approach is also the least resource intensive, it may be preferable for routine biomonitoring, or to process large sample numbers. Nonetheless, species-level classification provided the most detailed information on assemblage dynamics and is therefore an important option for scientific studies.

Labels are used for marketing, technical information, local of production and environmental declarations of products. The aim of the study was to evaluate the life cycle of two sets of front and back adhesive labels made with different liners: polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and glassine paper. The study is a pioneering initiative in the labelling industry using life cycle assessment, especially in Brazil. The attributional life cycle assessment method was based on the ISO 14044 standard and covered the entire life cycle, cradle to grave. Primary data for key suppliers, printing facility and label use composed the foreground data, while the ecoinvent database composed the background data. The material efficiency was assessed through mass balance. The impact assessment methods were cumulative energy demand for non-renewable energy and ILCD 2011 midpoint for the environmental categories. The glassine liner is heavier than the PET which resulted in larger environmental indicator values for production, transportation and waste treatment. On the other hand, energy demand of label set with glassine liner was lower than the PET. Furthermore, the hotspot analysis of each impact category was presented per process and substance. The label set made with glassine liner tended to present larger environmental indicator values in most categories, 13 of the 16 assessed, compared to the label set made with PET liner, despite the uncertainties. Contribution analysis identified that the pre-manufacturing step presented larger environmental indicator values than manufacturing, use and post-use steps along the label set life cycle. Therefore, environmental improvement opportunities were evaluated through scenarios of end of life, recycled inputs, domestic suppliers, waste prevention and product redesign. Moreover, the life cycle assessment was useful for diagnosing the energy and environmental profiles of self-adhesive labels and planning cleaner production measures that avoid environmental tradeoffs.

This study examines the effect of environmental degradation on output volatility using spatial panel data models namely spatial lag model (SLM), spatial error model (SEM) and spatial Durbin model (SDM). For a comparative analysis, non-spatial models namely pooled OLS, fixed effects and random effects are also employed. Environmental degradation is proxied through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The analysis is performed for 127 nations covering the period from 1996 to 2014. The findings reveal that environmental degradation increases output volatility in both non-spatial and spatial models. Furthermore, spillover effects of carbon emissions are positive and significant suggesting that national output volatility increases with the increase in adjacent economy’s carbon emissions. Further, the spatial parameters spatial rho and lambda are also positive and significant proving the arguments that output volatility in one specific location spillovers to the nearby neighbor and to the far away trading partner. These findings are robust to the use of methane emissions as an alternative environmental indicator. The findings suggest that to attain sustainable growth, regulatory authorities need to take actions for minimizing environmental degradation not only from its own country but also from the international community to control the environmental stress.

This paper presents a methodology to assess the influence of the correlation-covariance structure of measurement errors in online monitoring over the propagation of uncertainties, applied to wet-weather environmental indicators in sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDSs). The effect of auto-correlated and heteroskedastic errors in measured time-series over the estimated probability density function (PDF) of different environmental indicators is analyzed for a wide variety of possible error structures in the data. For this purpose, multiple correlation-covariance structures are randomly generated from exploring the parametric space of a linear exponent autoregressive (LEAR) model, employing a Bayesian-based Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling technique. Significant differences tests are proposed to identify the most correlated parameters of the correlation-covariance error model with statistics of the environmental indicator PDFs. The method is applied to total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) time-series recorded during 13 rainfall events at the inlet and outlet of a SUDS train (stormwater settling tank-horizontal constructed wetland). In this case, results showed that the total error in the estimation of the analyzed environmental indicators is mostly explained by standard uncertainties (flattening of the PDFs) rather than bias contributions (displacement of the PDFs). The correlation-covariance model parameters related to the temporal delimitation of hydrographs/pollutographs and the intensity of the autocorrelation showed to have the strongest influence in the propagation of measurement errors (flattening/displacement of the PDFs).

Given the complexity of the correlation of economic growth with financial development, and their interactive impacts on environmental quality, this study attempted to present new insights into indecisive outcomes from the contribution of financial development in determining the impressionability of environmental indicators under economic growth conditions. Previous studies only employed a single environmental indicator for analyzing the correlation between economic factors and environmental quality. However, six environmental indicators are adopted in this study to evaluate environmental quality and to reach major goals of this research. To this end, using 2-stage system generalized technique of moment estimator, the association of economic growth, energy consumption, financial development, environmental indicators, and trade openness is determined in selected OPEC countries for years 2010 to 2019. Findings indicated that accompanied by the effects of economic growth on any EFI, ANS, PN, and EPI variables, the financial development enhances such effect. This is while, the financial development would weaken the economic growth effect on the ESI variable. Regarding EVI, no significant association was observed. Regarding to ESI, EPI, and PN, trade openness applies a significantly positive impact on environmental quality; on the other hand, it has positive role in environmental degradation based on EFI and ANS. This is while, according to the EVI variable, trade openness has not meaningful impact on environmental status. Finally, energy use has significant and positive effects on environmental degradation in each of environmental indicators. However, this variable has not shown significant impact on EPI and ANS. Alternatively, findings indicated that financial development can be considered an important and key variable in improvement of the environmental quality due to the moderating role it plays relative to the negative economic growth effect on the environmental quality. At the end of this paper, some limitations are presented, and some suggestions for further studies are provided as well.

Indicator minerals have special physical and chemical properties that can be analyzed to glean information concerning the composition of host rocks and formational (or altering) fluids. Clay, zeolite, and tourmaline mineral groups are all ubiquitous at the Earth’s surface and shallow crust and distributed through a wide variety of sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic, and hydrothermal systems. Traditional studies of indicator mineral-bearing deposits have provided a wealth of data that could be integral to discovering new insights into the formation and evolution of naturally occurring systems. This study evaluates the relationships that exist between different environmental indicator mineral groups through the implementation of machine learning algorithms and network diagrams. Mineral occurrence data for thousands of localities hosting clay, zeolite, and tourmaline minerals were retrieved from mineral databases. Clustering techniques (e.g., agglomerative hierarchical clustering and density based spatial clustering of applications with noise) combined with network analyses were used to analyze the compiled dataset in an effort to characterize and identify geological processes operating at different localities across the United States. Ultimately, this study evaluates the ability of machine learning algorithms to act as supplementary diagnostic and interpretive tools in geoscientific studies.

Trace element analysis, in the leaves of five kinds of greening plants (Buxus, Picea, Pine, Juniperus and Platycladus) from eight uniform distribution sites in Fuxin, a typical traditional resource-based city in northeast China, was carried out to study the purification ability difference of urban greening plants and spatial distribution tendency of heavy metal elements in the whole city area. In terms of the purification ability analysis, Platycladus had a better environmental purification capacity for Cd, As, Pb and Cr. Juniperus also showed a certain environmental purification potential for As, Pb and Cu. Furthermore, Mn has the highest point mean of element content in all plants, ranging from 64.044–114.290 µg/g, and the MnPA content of Buxus and Juniperus was 60% higher than that of the other three plants, which showed a better Mn purification effect. In terms of the spatial distribution tendency analysis, point pollution source location and the urban climate factors (mainly for the wind factor) were the main controlling factors. However, the specificity of Mn distribution suggested that its polluting behavior had a close relation with minerals transportation during exploiting and transferring in the city’s coal mining industry in the past.