Achieving the ambitious targets set by Europe in its 2050 roadmap, moving away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources, while reducing carbon emissions, will require a radical change in ...Europe’s energy system. Much of the action that will enable this energy transition to be realised in a democratic way is at the local level. It is at this level that many of the decisions regarding the energy transition desired by European citizens will have to be taken. The methodology used in this study is based on data collection, literature review, data validation and analysis. A part of this analysis will also be taken by the mPower project as a diagnostic baseline. The first finding of this research work is that energy transition data availability at the local level is quite low. Second, the local authorities are experiencing difficulties in decarbonising their energy consumption. Finally, the factor with highest positive relationships with other energy transition variables is the number of people employed in the field of energy transition. The results suggest that in order to lead a participatory energy transition, the workforce specifically dedicated to energy transition is a key factor, clearly differentiating it from staff working on the general energy field.
The lipid content of a high mountain lake (Lake Isoba) allowed the reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental changes and anthropic influence in Northern Spain during the last 550 years. Fatty acids ...(FAs) and n-alkan-2-ones indicate little degradation of OM. Three units were delimited. During Unit A (ca. 1460–1780 CE) high carbon preference index values, predominance of high-molecular-weight saturated FAs, and good correspondence between the predominant n-alkane and saturated FA chains indicate higher OM input and evidence of minimal degradation, linked to the cold and dry Little Ice Age, that favoured the OM input derived mainly from land plants, and the reduced bacterial activity. In Unit B (ca. 1780–2006 CE) the n-alkane and saturated FA profiles showed a remarkable mismatch suggestive of preferential microbial synthesis of long chain saturated FAs from primary OM and/or bacterial activity (predominance of low-molecular-weight saturated FAs but with a bimodal distribution), in coincidence with a decrease in OM input, which could be linked to the global warming that started in the second half of the 19th century. Although OM continued deriving mainly from terrigenous plants, aquatic macrophytes increased their contribution to the OM indicating the amelioration of environmental conditions. Evidence of considerable phytoplankton productivity and microbial activity was significant in Unit C (ca. 2006–2018 CE) coinciding with the highest concentrations of n-alkanes and saturated FAs, linked to warmer and drier conditions, and to greater anthropogenic influence. In addition, organic sulfur and gammacerane indicates loss of oligotrophy, and the record of faecal stanols, particularly that of 24-ethylcoprostanol, strongly evidences notable and rising water pollution associated with increasing cattle ranching in the lake catchment during the past 10–15 years.
•Higher land plants input and little degradation took place during the Little Ice Age.•Higher aquatic macrophytes input and greater degradation occurred from 1780 to 2006.•Phytoplankton productivity and microbial activity has been significant since 2006.•Faecal stanols revealed pollution from herbivores since the 15th century.•Faecal stanols pollution markedly increased since 2006.
The COVID-19 pandemic is the single largest event in contemporary history in terms of the global restriction of mobility, with the majority of the world population experiencing various forms of ..."lockdown". This phenomenon incurred increased amounts of teleworking and time spent at home, fewer trips to shops, closure of retail outlets selling non-essential goods, and the near disappearance of leisure and recreational activities. This paper presents a novel method for an economy-wide estimate of the emissions reductions caused by the restriction of movement. Using a global multiregional macro-economic model complemented by Google Community Mobility Reports (CMRs) and national transport data, we cover 129 individual countries and quantify direct and indirect global emissions reductions of greenhouse gases (GHG; 1173 Mt), PM
(0.23 Mt), SO
(1.57 Mt), and NO
(3.69 Mt). A statistically significant correlation is observed between cross-country emission reductions and the stringency of mobility restriction policies. Due to the aggregated nature of the CMRs, we develop different scenarios linked to consumption, work, and lifestyle aspects. Global reductions are on the order of 1-3% (GHG), 1-2% (PM
), 0.5-2.8% (SO
), and 3-4% (NO
). Our results can help support crucial decision making in the post-COVID world, with quantified information about how direct and indirect consequences of mobility changes benefit the environment.
Background
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an established comorbidity in Bipolar Disorder (BD), but little is known about the characteristics of psychological trauma beyond a PTSD diagnosis ...and differences in trauma symptoms between BD-I and BD-II.
Objective
(1) To present characteristics of a trauma-exposed BD sample; (2) to investigate prevalence and trauma symptom profile across BD-I and BD-II; (3) to assess the impact of a lifetime PTSD diagnosis vs. a history of trauma on BD course; and (4) to research the impacts of sexual and physical abuse.
Methods
This multi-center study comprised 79 adult participants with BD with a history of psychological trauma and reports baseline data from a trial registered in Clinical Trials (
https://clinicaltrials.gov
; ref: NCT02634372). Clinical variables were gathered through clinical interview, validated scales and a review of case notes.
Results
The majority (80.8%) of our sample had experienced a relevant stressful life event prior to onset of BD, over half of our sample 51.9% had a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD according to the Clinician Administered PTSD scale. The mean Impact of Event Scale-Revised scores indicated high levels of trauma-related distress across the sample, including clinical symptoms in the PTSD group and subsyndromal symptoms in the non-PTSD group. Levels of dissociation were not higher than normative values for BD. A PTSD diagnosis (vs. a history of trauma) was associated with psychotic symptoms 2(1) = 5.404,
p
= 0.02 but not with other indicators of BD clinical severity. There was no significant difference between BD-I and BD-II in terms of lifetime PTSD diagnosis or trauma symptom profile. Sexual abuse significantly predicted rapid cycling 2(1) = 4.15,
p
= 0.042, while physical abuse was not significantly associated with any clinical indicator of severity.
Conclusion
Trauma load in BD is marked with a lack of difference in trauma profile between BD-I and BD-II. Although PTSD and sexual abuse may have a negative impact on BD course, in many indicators of BD severity there is no significant difference between PTSD and subsyndromal trauma symptoms. Our results support further research to clarify the role of subsyndromic PTSD symptoms, and highlight the importance of screening for trauma in BD patients.
A case study of a project for the geometric documentation of a roman mausoleum from the 4th century is used as the overarching element in order to put forward a reflection on some of the steps for ...the process of documentation itself, as well as on the utility of the outcomes. The main issues considered are: (1) documentation project, (2) three-dimensional modeling, (3) use of different kinds of two-dimensional and three-dimensional representations, (4) Augmented Reality and (5) archive and dissemination of information.
PDF
