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The concern about sustainability is growing and the Mediterranean diet has been extensively identified as a promising model, with benefits for human and environmental health. This systematic review aims to identify and describe the indicators that have been used to evaluate the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet and the results from their application. A methodology using PRISMA guidelines was followed, and searches were performed in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and GreenFile. A total of 32 studies assessing the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet were identified. Twenty-five of these studies quantified the environmental impact, 7 studies evaluated the nutritional quality, and 12 studies assessed the daily cost of this dietary pattern. A total of 33 distinct indicators were identified, of which 10 were used to assess the environmental dimension (mainly, carbon, water, and ecological footprint), 8 were used to assess the nutritional dimension (mainly Health score and Nutrient Rich Food Index), 1 was used to assess the economic dimension (dietary cost), and 8 used combined indicators. The remaining 6 indicators for the assessment of sociocultural dimension were only identified in 1 study but were not measured. The Mediterranean diet had a lower environmental impact than Western diets and showed a carbon footprint between 0.9 and 6.88 kg CO2/d per capita, a water footprint between 600 and 5280 m(3)/d per capita, and an ecological footprint between 2.8 and 53.42 m(2)/d per capita. With regard to the nutritional dimension, the Mediterranean diet had a high nutritional quality and obtained 122 points on the Health score and ranged between 12.95 and 90.6 points on the Nutrient Rich Food Index. The cost of the Mediterranean diet is similar to other diets and varied between 3.33 and 14.42euro/d per capita. These findings show that no uniformity in assessing the MDiet's sustainability exists. Statement of Significance: Although several articles have presented the Mediterranean diet (MDiet) as a sustainable diet, it is not clear how this sustainability is being assessed by different authors. This systematic literature review aims to fill this gap, by identifying and describing the indicators used to evaluate the sustainability of the MDiet, taking into account the several sustainability dimensions and looking at the results from their application.

In the Valongo Belt, with an extension of about 90 km, located very close to Porto, northern Portugal, dozens of ore deposits of various metallic minerals and coal were exploited in the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the metals most intensely exploited was antimony, with or without associated gold mineralization. This research intends to verify the extent of the current environmental legacy of ancient antimony mining. A typical old mine was selected. The main objectives were to verify whether the environmental legacy still manifests today, how natural processes contributed to an environmental dispersion of the mining footprint and whether the environmental legacy was absorbed by developments in a new landscape modified by anthropic activities. The topography of the area was captured using a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) based drone system. The regional background was characterized by the geo-referenced chemical analysis of 157 soil samples, collected in a 35 × 35 m grid. The former mining area was characterized by 58 supplementary samples. The mining area is distinct from the background by higher antimony and zinc levels, constituting two distinct populations, as confirmed by statistical tests. In the samples collected in the industrial zone, six elements were considered contaminants: As, Cu, Mo, Sb, Sn and Zn. The concentrations of these elements were statistically examined using multivariate statistical analyses (principal component analysis and correspondence analysis). The main conclusions are: (a) the mining heritage area is discernible from the highly mineralized background; (b) in the mining zone, it is possible to distinguish the processing industrial area from the waste rock storage; (c) the natural processes of environmental dispersion were of little relevance; (d) the environmental legacy was smoothed and mostly incorporated into the new post-industrial landscape created by anthropic activities.

The polymetallic Co, Ni, Cu, As, Au, and Ag deposits of Bou Azzer East are located in the western part of the Bou Azzer inlier in the Central Anti Atlas, Morocco. Six stages of emplacement of the mineralization have been identified. Precious metals (native gold and electrum) are present in all stages of this deposit except the early nickeliferous stage. From the Statistical analysis of the Co, As, Ni, Au, and Ag contents of a set of 501 samples, shows that the Pearson correlation coefficient between As-Co elements (0.966) is the highest followed by that of the Au-Ag couple (0.506). Principal Component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical ascending classification (HAC) of the grades show, that Ni is associated with the pair (As-Co) and Cu is rather related to the pair (Au-Ag). The kriging maps show that the highest values of the Co, As and Ni appear in the contact of the serpentinite with other facies, as for those of Au and Ag, in addition to anomalous zones concordant with those of Co, Ni and As, they show anomalies at the extreme South and North of the study area. The development of the anomalous Au and Ag zones is mainly along the N40-50°E and N145°E directions.

Urban area air pollution results from local air pollutants (from different sources) and horizontal transport (background pollution). Understanding urban air pollution background (lowest) concentration profiles is key in population exposure assessment and epidemiological studies. To this end, air pollution registered at background monitoring sites is studied, but background pollution levels are given as the average of the air pollutant concentrations measured at these sites over long periods of time. This short communication shows how a metric based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) can characterise the air pollutant background concentration profiles. HMMs were applied to daily average concentrations of CO, NO2, PM10 and SO2 at thirteen urban monitoring sites from three cities from 2010 to 2013. Using the proposed metric, the mean values of background and ambient air pollution registered at these sites for these primary pollutants were estimated and the ratio of ambient to background air pollution and the difference between them were studied. The ratio indicator for the studied air pollutants during the four-year study sets the background air pollution at 48%-69% of the ambient air pollution, while the difference between these values ranges from 101 to 193 mu g/m(3), 7-12 mu g/m(3),11-13 mu g/m(3) and 2-3 mu g/m(3) for CO, NO2, PM10 and SO2, respectively.

The main purpose of this work was to investigate the cause(s) of the loss of sulfur observed in one of the existing groundwater wells in Termas da Fonte Santa, county of Almeida, region of Guarda. It was carried out a characterization of the thermal waters, in particular the alkaline sulfur ones, in which the waters of the wells under analysis are inserted. Then, the area under study was characterized from a geographical, geomorphological and geological-structural point of view. After some brief historical considerations about these wells, it was undertaken a survey of the characteristics of the aquifer. The existing wells in the area were described, in particular the FS2 and AQ1 ones, as well as the hydrochemistry of the respective waters. A multiplicity of statistical treatments was carried out to investigate the problem of the loss of sulfur at the FS2 well. It was given particular emphasis to the application of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), as a data processing method which, in the multivariate statistics scope, seeks a multidimensional understanding of the phenomenon under study, being analysed the eventual relation of all hydrochemical variables in the general behavior of the considered hydrogeological system. With this study it was possible to recognize the vital importance of such relevant aspects as the efficient isolation of the wells, the consideration of the fracturing state of the surrounding massifs or the influence of the regionŽs climate on the proper functioning of the well.

The microbial communities of bulk soil of rice paddy fields under an ancient organic agriculture regimen, consisting on an alfalfa-rice rotation system, were characterized. The drained soil of two adjacent paddies at different stages of the rotation was compared before rice seeding and after harvesting. The relationships among the soil microbial, physicochemical, and biochemical parameters were investigated using multivariate analyses. In the first year of rice cropping, aerobic cultivable heterotrophic populations correlated with lineages of presumably aerobic bacteria (e.g., Sphingobacteriales, Sphingomonadales). In the second year of rice cropping, the total C content correlated with presumable anaerobic bacteria (e.g., Anaerolineae). Independently of the year of rice cropping, before rice seeding, proteolytic activity correlated positively with the cultivable aerobic heterotrophic and ammonifier populations, the soil catabolic profile and with presumable aerobes (e.g., Sphingobacteriales, Rhizobiales) and anaerobes (e.g., Bacteroidales, Anaerolineae). After harvesting, strongest correlations were observed between cultivable diazotrophic populations and bacterial groups described as comprising N-2 fixing members (e.g., Chloroflexi-Ellin6529, Betaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria). It was demonstrated that chemical parameters and microbial functions were correlated with variations on the total bacterial community composition and structure occurring during rice cropping. A better understanding of these correlations and of their implications on soil productivity may be valid contributors for sustainable agriculture practices, based on ancient processes.

The reuse of treated wastewater, in particular for irrigation, is an increasingly common practice, encouraged by governments and official entities worldwide. Irrigation with wastewater may have implications at two different levels: alter the physicochemical and microbiological properties of the soil and/or introduce and contribute to the accumulation of chemical and biological contaminants in soil. The first may affect soil productivity and fertility; the second may pose serious risks to the human and environmental health. The sustainable wastewater reuse in agriculture should prevent both types of effects, requiring a holistic and integrated risk assessment. In this article we critically review possible effects of irrigation with treated wastewater, with special emphasis on soil microbiota. The maintenance of a rich and diversified autochthonous soil microbiota and the use of treated wastewater with minimal levels of potential soil contaminants are proposed as sine qua non conditions to achieve a sustainable wastewater reuse for irrigation. Keywords: Wastewater reuse, Wastewater microbiota, Soil microbiota, Autochthonous microbiota, Chemical contamination, Biological contamination, Irrigation