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Abstract Hay fever affects people differently and can change over a lifetime, but data is lacking on how environmental factors may influence this. This study is the first to combine atmospheric sensor data with real-time, geo-positioned hay fever symptom reports to examine the relationship between symptom severity and air quality, weather and land use. We study 36145 symptom reports submitted over 5 years by over 700 UK residents using a mobile application. Scores were recorded for nose, eyes and breathing. Symptom reports are labelled as urban or rural using land-use data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics. Reports are compared with AURN network pollution measurements and pollen and meteorological data taken from the UK Met Office. Our analysis suggests urban areas record significantly higher symptom severity for all years except 2017. Rural areas do not record significantly higher symptom severity in any year. Additionally, symptom severity correlates with more air quality markers in urban areas than rural areas, indicating that differences in allergy symptoms may be due to variations in the levels of pollutants, pollen counts and seasonality across land-use types. The results suggest that a relationship exists between urban surroundings and hay fever symptoms.

The measurement and mapping of transportation network vulnerability to natural hazards constitute subjects of global interest for a sustainable development agenda and as means of adaptation to climate change. During a flood, some elements of a transportation network can be affected, causing the loss of lives. Furthermore, impacts include damage to vehicles, streets/roads, and other logistics services - sometimes with severe economic consequences. The Network Science approach may offer a valuable perspective considering one type of vulnerability related to network-type critical infrastructures: the topological vulnerability. The topological vulnerability index associated with an element is defined as reducing the network’s average efficiency due to removing the set of edges related to that element. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic literature overview and a case study applying the topological vulnerability index for the highways in Santa Catarina (Brazil). We produce a map considering that index and areas susceptible to urban floods and landslides. Risk knowledge, combining hazard and vulnerability, is the first pillar of an Early Warning System and represents an important tool for stakeholders of the transportation sector in a disaster risk reduction agenda.

Measurement(s) meteorology • air quality • pollen Technology Type(s) digital curation Factor Type(s) temporal interval Sample Characteristic - Environment air Sample Characteristic - Location United Kingdom

Agar is a hydrophilic biopolymer extracted from red seaweed. This phycocolloid consists of two components: agarose and agaropectin. In the present work, agar extracted from the invasive red seaweed Agarophyton vermiculophyllum was characterized using physical, chemical, and spectroscopic analyses to investigate the effect of alkaline pretreatment on agar properties. Two extraction conditions, native and alkali-pretreated agars, were comparatively studied. The native yield (28.4 ± 0.9%) was higher than that of the alkaline-pretreated agar (20.4 ± 0.8%). The alkali-pretreated agar showed higher gel strength (763.8 ± 57.0g cm−2), gelling (36.5 ± 0.9 °C), and melting (83.2 ± 0.6 °C) temperatures and increased 3,6-anhydrogalactose (26.2 ± 1.9%) and decreased sulfate contents (6.2 ± 0.8%) compared with native agar (gel strength: 204.8 ± 17.10g cm−2, gelling temperature: 29.5 ± 0.9 °C, melting temperature: 73.4 ± 0.7 °C, 3,6-AG content: 13.8 ± 0.7%, sulfate content: 10.5 ± 0.5%). The alkaline pretreatment improved the agar’s gelling properties and significantly influenced its chemical properties. In view of the obtained results, A. vermiculophyllum might potentially be thought of as a viable source for the agar industry in Morocco, serving as a local source of agar.

Brown algal forests provide many ecosystem services but are declining worldwide, prompting a growing number of conservation and restoration efforts. Recent attempts to recover Cystoseira forests are encouraging in the Mediterranean, but whether this is possible in more challenging Atlantic conditions has not yet been investigated. In this study, we assess the feasibility of cultivating Gongolaria nodicaulis by producing ex-situ recruits for reforestation on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Embryos of G. nodicaulis were cultured on clay tiles for 26 days under controlled conditions without water motion, reaching an average length of 3 mm before being outplanted on the intertidal zone. The transplants were monitored for six months. Recruits experienced high loss rates, approximately 47 % of zygotes within 7 days in culture and 75 % of outplanted seedlings within 10 days in the field. The latter might result from natural self-thinning (competition), but our observations suggested that it was also largely due to the weak attachment of recruits to the tiles resulting from cultivation under calm conditions. Six months after the transplants, the surviving individuals reached the size of wild adult algae (average length of 13.5 cm), and some even became reproductive. Globally, survival rates, growth, physiological condition and fertility in this restoration pilot suggest that ex-situ recruitment and outplanting of G. nodicaulis is a promising approach to recover forests in Atlantic Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alginates are linear unbranched polysaccharides produced by brown seaweeds. The gel properties of this phycocolloid are mainly linked to the monomer composition, sequential structure and molecular weight of the polymeric chain. Nevertheless, these structural parameters are also dependent on the age and tissue of the thalli used. In this work, the kelp species Laminaria ochroleuca and Saccorhiza polyschides harvested from the Moroccan coast were analyzed for their alginates content and composition in different thalli parts (blade and stipe). Spectroscopic characterization (1H NMR and FT-IR), viscosity, and molecular weight of the extracted alginates were investigated. The obtained results showed that the alginate contents ranged from 20.19 ± 2 to 49.8 ± 2.4% dw. FT-IR spectroscopy exhibited similar spectra between the alginates extracted from both species and the commercial alginate. The 1H-NMR results revealed interesting variations in block composition between species, and less disparity with regard to the tissue type (M/G values ranging from 0.89 to 2.14). High mannuronate content was found in all alginates except for those extracted from the blade of L. ochroleuca. The homopolymeric fractions FMM are remarkably high compared to the FGG and heteropolymeric fractions (FGM/FMG) in S. polyschides. However, for L. ochroleuca, the heteropolymeric fractions are quite abundant, accounting for more than 34% of the polymer diads. The alginates extracted from both species indicated low values for the intrinsic viscosity. Based on the yield and the structural properties of their alginates, this study suggests that both L. ochroleuca and S.polyschides could be considered potential alginophytes to be incorporated into the industry of alginates. It also proposes an optimization of the yield, using the different thalli parts in the extraction (blade and stipe). The chemical structure and viscosity of their alginates may contribute to expanding their applications, especially in biotechnology and medical fields.

The present study focused on the dynamics of the phenology and life cycle of the Phaeophyceae invader Sargassum muticum at three sites on the Atlantic coast of Morocco over a period of two years (2013 and 2014). The results showed that S. muticum has two distinct growth phases; one with slower growth in winter followed by one with faster growth in spring-early summer, when the species exhibited high elongation and branching activities with thalli length ranging from 1 to more than 5 m depending on the study site. The site S1, with a rocky substratum covered by submerged sands, promotes thalli elongation, with maximum lengths of 643.33 11.10 cm recorded in July. At the rocky sites (S2 and S3), the maximum length of the seaweed depends on the pools’ depth. Although the elongation of thalli is enhanced by the water body depth, the settlements’ density (5-48 ind. m–2) seems to be mainly related to the nature of the substrate. The maturity index progressively increases from spring to early summer, when it reaches the highest values. S. muticum seems to be more abundant and more easily acclimated in shallow rockpools (sufficiently lighted and semi-exposed to wave action at the mid and lower tidal levels) than in protected sandy bottom sites with low hydrodynamic forces.

Volatile compounds from the marine cyanolichen Lichina pygmaea, collected from the Moroccan Atlantic coast, were extracted by hydrodistillation and their putative chemical composition was investigated by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Based on the obtained results, Lichina pygmaea volatile compounds (LPVCs) were mainly dominated by sesquiterpenes compounds, where γ-himachalene, β-himachalene, (2E,4E)-2,4 decadienal and α-himachalene were assumed to be the most abundant constituents, with percentage of 37.51%, 11.71%, 8.59% and 7.62%, respectively. LPVCs depicted significant antimicrobial activity against all tested strains (Staphylococcus aureus CCMM B3, Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 50090, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 and Candida albicans CCMM-L4) with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values within the range of 1.69–13.5 mg/mL. Moreover, this LPVC showed interesting scavenging effects on the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical with an IC50 of 0.21 mg/mL. LPVCs could be an approving resource with moderate antimicrobial potential and interesting antioxidant activity for cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications.

Agar is a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from certain marine red algae, and its gel properties depend on the seaweed source and extraction conditions. In the present study, the seaweed Gracilaria gracilis (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) from Dakhla (Moroccan Atlantic Coast) was investigated for its agar content, structure, and gel properties. The agar yields of G. gracilis were 20.5% and 15.6% from alkaline pretreatment and native extraction, respectively. Agar with alkaline pretreatment showed a better gelling property supported by higher gel strength (377 g·cm−2), gelling (35.4 °C), and melting (82.1 °C) temperatures with a notable increase in 3,6-anhydro-galactose (11.85%) and decrease in sulphate (0.32%) contents. The sulfate falling subsequent to alkaline pretreatment was verified through FT-IR spectroscopy. The 13C NMR spectroscopy showed that alkaline-pretreated agar has a typical unsubstituted agar pattern. However, native agar had a partially methylated agarose structure. Overall, this study suggested the possibility of the exploitation of G. gracilis to produce a fine-quality agar. Yet, further investigation may need to determine the seasonal variability of this biopolymer according to the life cycle of G. gracilis.

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O presente artigo analisa as leis de zoneamento urbano de São José dos Campos-SP com objetivo de avaliar a continuidade nas políticas de uso e ocupação do solo, bem como o ordenamento do espaço e planejamento urbano no município. São José dos Campos éuma cidade de grande porte, com alto desenvolvimento tecnológico e que teve fortes intervenções do Estado em seu território. Observou-se que a delimitação de zonas industriais e o incentivo ao setor econômico foram prioritáriosno planejamento do município, muitas vezes se sobrepondo ao social e ao ambiental. Existem vários conflitos de uso do solo entre uma legislação e outra, e entre a lei e a prática. Adicionalmente, a proliferação de loteamentos clandestinos favorece o crescimento espraiado da cidade, evidenciando a falta de fiscalização e de um planejamento que se aplique de forma efetiva em todo o município.

This paper examines the role that lived experience plays in the human capacity to reason about uncertainty. Previous research shows that people are more likely to provide accurate responses in Bayesian tasks when the data are presented in natural frequencies, the problem in question describes a familiar event, and the values of the data are in line with beliefs. Precisely why these factors are important remains open to debate. We elucidate the issue in two ways. Firstly, we hypothesize that in a task that requires people to reason about conditional probabilities, they are more likely to respond accurately when the values of the problem reflect their own lived experience, than when they reflect the experience of the average participant. Secondly, to gain further understanding of the underlying reasoning process, we employ a novel interaction analysis method that tracks mouse movements in an interactive web application and applies transition analysis to model how the approach to reasoning differs depending on whether data are presented using percentages or natural frequencies. We find (1) that the closer the values of the data in the problem are to people's self-reported lived experience, the more likely they are to provide a correct answer, and (2) that the reasoning process employed when data are presented using natural frequencies is qualitatively different to that employed when data are presented using percentages. The results indicate that the benefits of natural frequency presentation are due to a clearer representation of the relationship between sets and that the prior humans acquire through experience has an overwhelming influence on their ability to reason about uncertainty.

Agar is a hydrophilic biopolymer extracted from red seaweed. This phycocolloid consists of two components: agarose and agaropectin. In the present work, agar extracted from the invasive red seaweed Agarophyton vermiculophyllum was characterized using physical, chemical, and spectroscopic analyses to investigate the effect of alkaline pretreatment on agar properties. Two extraction conditions, native and alkali-pretreated agars, were comparatively studied. The native yield (28.4 ± 0.9%) was higher than that of the alkaline-pretreated agar (20.4 ± 0.8%). The alkali-pretreated agar showed higher gel strength (763.8 ± 57.0g cm−2), gelling (36.5 ± 0.9 °C), and melting (83.2 ± 0.6 °C) temperatures and increased 3,6-anhydrogalactose (26.2 ± 1.9%) and decreased sulfate contents (6.2 ± 0.8%) compared with native agar (gel strength: 204.8 ± 17.10g cm−2, gelling temperature: 29.5 ± 0.9 °C, melting temperature: 73.4 ± 0.7 °C, 3,6-AG content: 13.8 ± 0.7%, sulfate content: 10.5 ± 0.5%). The alkaline pretreatment improved the agar's gelling properties and significantly influenced its chemical properties. In view of the obtained results, A. vermiculophyllum might potentially be thought of as a viable source for the agar industry in Morocco, serving as a local source of agar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]