Valuation of Ecosystem Services Based on EU Carbon Allowances-Optimal Recovery for a Coal Mining Area.

This paper presents a new way of valuing ecosystem services based on the price of EU carbon dioxide emission allowances. Its main advantage is that it facilitates the monetisation of non-provisioning ecosystem services, which is the Achilles heel of current frameworks. The research approach is built on the notion that land rehabilitation and ecological restoration involve trade-offs between ecosystem services.

Restoring Coal Mining-Affected Areas: The Missing Ecosystem Services.

Multi-criteria decision analysis and cost-benefit analysis, either individually or in combination, have been used as the preferred tools to develop ecosystem services valuation, presenting significant discrepancies and variations between the calculated values. To counteract this problem, a new framework was developed based on a hierarchical weighting of the non-provisioning ecosystem services, using biodiversity as the reference ecosystem service since it is the easiest to apprehend. Their monetisation was made using the average price of EU carbon dioxide emission allowances during 2019 and 2020, obtaining reasonable and comparable results in line with what was expected for the study region.

Glucose-induced inhibition of the appetitive brain response to visual food cues in polycystic ovary syndrome patients.

We postulate that insulin regulation of food intake is compromised when insulin resistance is present. In order to investigate the effect of insulin sensitivity on appetitive brain responses, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in a group of women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in which insulin sensitivity ranged from normal to resistant. Subjects (n=19) were imaged while viewing pictures of high calorie (HC) foods and low calorie (LC) foods after ingesting either 75 g glucose or an equivalent volume of water.

Effect of insulin sensitivity on corticolimbic responses to food picture in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: Insulin is one of several molecules that transmit information about energy balance to the brain. It has been hypothesized that insulin resistance fosters non-homeostatic eating. The objective of the current study was to characterize corticolimbic brain responses to appetitive stimuli in subjects with insulin sensitivities ranging from resistant to normal.

Effect of menstrual cycle phase on corticolimbic brain activation by visual food cues.

Food intake is decreased during the late follicular phase and increased in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. While a changing ovarian steroid milieu is believed to be responsible for this behavior, the specific mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Brain activity in response to visual food stimuli was compared during the estrogen dominant peri-ovulatory phase and the progesterone dominant luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.

Peptide YY(3-36)-induced inhibition of food intake in female monkeys.

Peptide YY (PYY) is produced in L cells of the intestine and is released after eating. PYY circulates in a truncated form designated PYY(3-36). PYY(3-36) is thought to be a physiologic anorexigenic peptide.

Effect of fasting on cocaine-amphetamine-regulated transcript, neuropeptide Y, and leptin receptor expression in the non-human primate hypothalamus.

Leptin is a cytokine produced by white adipose tissue that circulates in direct proportion to adiposity and is an important signal of energy balance. Leptin inhibits food intake in rodents by inhibiting the orexigenic neuropetides neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti regulated peptide (AgRP) and stimulating the anorexigenic neuropeptides alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) and cocaine-amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART). In order to extend our understanding of neuroendocrine regulation of appetite in the primate, we determined the effect of a metabolic challenge on CART, NPY, and leptin receptor (Ob-R) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) in the nonhuman primate (NHP) hypothalamus.

Effect of leptin administration on ovulation in food-restricted rhesus monkeys.

A chronic negative energy balance due to low nutritional intake or increased energy expenditure alters several neuroendocrine axes. The reproductive and thyroid axes are inhibited while the adrenal axis is stimulated. In primates, anovulation resulting from a chronic negative energy balance is a condition often referred to as nutritional amenorrhea.

Developing a model of nutritional amenorrhea in rhesus monkeys.

Nutritional amenorrhea is defined as cessation of menstrual cycles resulting from a chronic negative energy balance. Although it is agreed that nutritional amenorrhea results from reduced secretion of GnRH, the neuroendocrine mechanisms leading to GnRH inhibition are poorly defined. Because the invasiveness of many neuroendocrine experimental approaches precludes its use in the clinical setting, we set out to establish a model of nutritional amenorrhea in rhesus monkeys.

Caloric restriction inhibits steroid-induced gonadotropin surges in ovariectomized rhesus monkeys.

We recently reported that caloric restriction inhibited ovulation in rhesus monkeys. The objective of the current study was to determine if caloric restriction affected the positive feedback response to ovarian steroids in non-human primates. Studies were conducted in four long-term ovariectomized rhesus monkeys.

Hypoglycemia does not affect gonadotroph responsiveness to gonadotropin-releasing hormone in rhesus monkeys.

Hypoglycemia inhibits gonadotropin secretion in primates by an undefined mechanism. Some evidence suggests that hypoglycemia inhibits gonadotropin secretion independent of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) inhibition. To this end, the effect of insulininduced hypoglycemia on the luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) response to graded doses of GnRH (25, 75, and 250 ng/kg) administered at 120-min intervals was determined in rhesus monkeys.

Estrogen-induced gonadotropin surge in rhesus monkeys is not inhibited by cortisol synthesis inhibition or hypoglycemia.

Acute administration of corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) has been shown to inhibit gonadotropin secretion in several species including rodents, sheep, humans, and nonhuman primates. Similarly, a variety of acute stressors have been shown to inhibit tonic gonadotropin secretion and may do so through a CRH mechanism. Stress-induced inhibition of tonic gonadotropin secretion below levels required for follicular maturation would be expected to inhibit ovulation.

Effectiveness of photodynamic ablation for destruction of endometrial explants in a rat endometriosis model.

Objective: To evaluate the potential of photodynamic therapy with aminolevulinic acid (ALA-PDT) for ablation of endometrial explants in a rat endometriosis model and to compare the effect of ALA-PDT, electrosurgery, and surgical resection on normal peritoneum.

Design: Prospective controlled experimental trial.

Setting: University medical center.