The eastern Mediterranean is a region that has been relatively understudied with regards to anthropogenic marine litter despite potential for environmental and social costs. Here, coastal marine ...litter accumulation was assessed at eight beach locations along the coast of Northern Cyprus. Monthly surveys were performed between January 2017 and January 2019. All items ≥ 2.5 cm in diameter within the same 250 m2 plot were collected and processed. A total of 59,556 separate items were collected with a total mass of 697 kg. At the worst affected site (Ronnas Bay) litter accumulation averaged 1114 items and 11.9 kg per month. Plastic and polystyrene litter accounted for 82% (622.71 kg) of all litter types by mass and 96% (57,231) by frequency. Plastic bags, plastic pieces, drinks containers, caps/lids were the four most abundant forms of plastic by mass and by frequency. This suggests dumping/poor domestic waste governance as the main driver of marine litter in the region.
•Cyprus possesses some of the most litter polluted beaches in the Mediterranean.•Plastic litter constitutes 96% of all litter collected over a 2-year period.•Drinks containers, plastic bags and plastic bottle tops were the 3 most numerous identifiable items found.
Anthropogenic activities and climate change have a profound impact on the urban environment. Therefore, energy conservation is an important subject for city planners. Green roofs can provide building ...insulation and mitigate against the urban heat island effect. This research was conducted in Cyprus, comparing different types of green roof vegetation against a control roof with no vegetation and their concomitant effects on indoor temperatures. The research project was performed at Near East University Campus for duration of twelve months. The experiment consisted of three different green roof types, and each hut with green roof had 3.5 m2 roof areas with a soil depth of 8 cm. In addition, one control green roof system was established without insulation, without soil, and without vegetation. In order to measure the indoor temperatures of the huts, Elitech RC-5 temperature data loggers were used. The research results showed that green roof huts provided lower mean temperatures than the control hut during the summer period. Most importantly, huts with shrub plants had the lowest temperatures during hot summer conditions. Our results indicated that green roofs perform an important role in terms of building insulation and its subsequent energy use.
Urban green spaces (UGS) are one of the most important issues regarding the sustainability of a city. In this study, we aimed to determine the effect of UGS on the historical urban texture by ...measuring user satisfaction. The city of Nicosia was chosen as a case study due to its rich texture. This texture has remained in the center of the modern city over time. In line with the purpose of this study, firstly, the existence of UGS, as well as their functionality and contribution to the texture of Nicosia (Walled City), were determined by literature review, field work, and appropriate computer programs. Then, a survey method based on functional factors was applied in order to measure the satisfaction of the users with UGS, and the results were statistically evaluated and compared with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 26.0 software and the Pearson’s chi-squared test. As a result of the survey, it has been revealed that the existing green areas are insufficient for the people living in the old city of Nicosia. This research has shown that quality green areas that can be used for social activity or relaxation are not available in the old city of Nicosia. In addition, it has been determined that the existing green areas are not clean and safe, there are not enough shading plants, and the existing plants are very neglected. In this context, it is essential to make proper plans for future urban developments in order to have green areas of sufficient scale in the urban fabric.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is an important global health problem. Despite increased prevalence due to improved diagnostic options, limited improvement has been achieved in ...cardiac outcomes. HFpEF is an extremely complex syndrome and multimodality imaging is important for diagnosis, identifying its different phenotypes and determining prognosis. Evaluation of left ventricular filling pressures using echocardiographic diastolic function parameters is the first step of imaging in clinical practice. The role of echocardiography is becoming more popular and with the recent developments in deformation imaging, cardiac MRI is extremely important as it can provide tissue characterisation, identify fibrosis and optimal volume measurements of cardiac chambers. Nuclear imaging methods can also be used in the diagnosis of specific diseases, such as cardiac amyloidosis.
Background and Objectives: Similar to diabetes, the presence of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function (DD) has been reported in various studies which were conducted with people with a diagnosis of ...an impaired fasting blood glucose (FBG). This study aimed to examine the effects of the fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels on the left atrial strain (LAS) estimated by two-dimensional echocardiography speckle tracking analyses in patients without known diabetes. Material and Methods: The study included 148 participants (74 female and 74 male) without a history of diabetes mellitus or chronic disease. The patients were divided into two groups as follows: individuals with an FBG < 100 mg/dL and those with an FBG between 100 and 125 mg/dL after at least 8 h of overnight fasting. According to these FBG levels, speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) measures were compared. Results: There was a significant decrease in the LA reservoir (52.3 ± 15 vs. 44.5 ± 10.7; p = 0.001) and conduit strain (36.9 ± 11.7 vs. 28.4 ± 9.7; p = 0.001) in the impaired FBG group. When the STE findings of both ventricles were compared, no significant difference was observed between the groups in right and left ventricular strain imaging. Conclusions: In the earliest stage of LVDD, changes in atrial functional parameters become particularly evident. Echocardiographic analyses of these parameters can help to diagnose and determine the degree of LVDD while the morphological parameters are still normal. The addition of LAS imaging to routine transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) studies in patients with an impaired FBG but without a DM diagnosis may be helpful in demonstrating subclinical LVDD or identifying patients at risk for LVDD in this patient group.
To the Editor,
Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), also known as Laurance-Moon-Bardet-Biedl syndrome, is a rare multisystem autosomal recessive genetic disorder. BBS is a multisystem immobile ciliopathy ...primarily characterized by retinal cone-rod dystrophy, obesity, postaxial polydactyly, cognitive impairment, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and/or genitourinary and renal malformations.
A dramatic demographic shift regarding urbanization is occurring globally. Between 2000 and 2050, the ratio of individuals in urban spaces is projected to rise from 46.6 % to 69.6%. Environmental ...pollution, urban heat island effect and climate change are among the hazardous effects of urbanization. Critical ecosystem services can be provided with urban green areas such as parks, roof gardens, streams, forests and community gardens etc. Walking, running or biking activities, psychological well-being and public health of urban inhabitants can also be supported via green space. Urban landscape areas are also significant for Cyprus as there is an on-going remarkable urbanization. Particularly, due to urbanization, the importance of green spaces in cities is becoming important. During this study, open and green space as urban landscape areas in Güzelyurt (Morphou) was investigated. This is the first study to examine user satisfaction and views of open and green spaces in Güzelyurt (Morphou) region, Cyprus. A questionnaire with 60 participants were conducted in order to understand respondents’ suggestions about several aspects of existing open and green spaces in Güzelyurt, north Cyprus. According to the findings, respondents were mostly dissatisfied about urban and open spaces in the city. Our results indicate that local authorities or municipal organizations should legalize the planning of urban parks, open spaces and green areas with long term perspective. Keywords: Urbanization, Green space, urban park, landscape, Güzelyurt, Cyprus
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