Academic literature on the topic 'Total (2000-2021)'

Significance. Fertility and mortality analysis helps identify major demographic risk zones. Recently, due to intensive development of digitalization in Russia, a lot of statistical information has become publicly available. Its generalization and analysis are necessary for developing social programs aimed at copying with the identified risk factors and improving the demographic situation. Analysis of the number of women of active reproductive age, total fertility rate, life expectancy, and gender-specific mortality rates are important steps in this direction. Significance of the topic is emphasized by the development and implementation of the national project "Demography" in the Russian Federation in 2019-2024. The purpose of the study was to implement a comparative and dynamic analysis of demographic indicators in Russia to identify risk zones and take effective measures to improve the situation. Material and methods. The analysis uses WHO data, databases and collections of Rosstat and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, information on implementing the national project "Demography". A database has been developed in the licensed statistical package IBM SPSS Statistics-19. A comparative analysis of independent groups of indicators has been undertaken using the Mann-Whitney U-test, related groups – using the Wilcoxon test; while the trend in indicators was determined by Kendall’s Tau coefficient of correlation, graphical analysis was carried out in MS Excel-2013. Results. The determined trends in dynamics show that the pre and post-working age population is naturally increasing, that is, according to these indicators, the goals of the national project are being achieved. The number of women of reproductive age during the study period shows a decreasing trend, which was undoubtedly influenced by the “Russian cross” of the 90s of the last century, when fertility decreased and mortality increased almost twice compared to the end of the 80s. Negative values of the natural growth rate indicate that fertility is lower than mortality during those years. From 2000 to 2015, the trend was positive, the natural growth rate increased while since 2015 the trend was decreasing. The total fertility rate has been declining since 2015. In reality, in 2015, less than 18 children were born to 10 women in Russia, in 2021 – only 15 children, which is below the population replacement level. Conclusion. One of the promising directions for improving the situation is to adopt effective social measures to increase fertility in young women, to increase the total fertility rate, as well as to develop a promising industrial production and incentive programs to prevent the outflow of young population.

The purpose of this work is to study Rossby wave parameters in total ozone over the Arctic in 2000–2021. We consider the averages in the January–March period, when stratospheric trace gases (including ozone) in sudden stratospheric warming events are strongly disturbed by planetary waves. To characterize the wave parameters, we analyzed ozone data at the latitudes of 50°N (the sub-vortex area), 60°N (the polar vortex edge) and 70°N (inner region of the polar vortex). Total ozone column (TOC) measurements over a 22-year time interval were used from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer/Earth Probe and Ozone Mapping Instrument/Aura satellite observations. The TOC zonal distribution and variations in the Fourier spectral components with zonal wave numbers m = 1–5 are presented. The daily and interannual variations in TOC, amplitudes and phases of the spectral wave components, as well as linear trends in the amplitudes of the dominant quasi-stationary wave 1 (QSW1), are discussed. The positive TOC peaks inside the vortex in 2010 and 2018 alternate with negative ones in 2011 and 2020. The extremely low TOC at 70°N in 2020 corresponds to severe depletion of stratospheric ozone over the Arctic in strong vortex conditions due to anomalously low planetary wave activity and a high positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation. Interannual TOC variations in the sub-vortex region at 50°N are accompanied by a negative trend of −4.8 Dobson Units per decade in the QSW1 amplitude, statistically significant at 90% confidence level, while the trend is statistically insignificant in the vortex edge region and inside the vortex due to the increased variability in TOC and QSW1. The processes associated with quasi-circumpolar migration and quasi-stationary oscillation of the wave-1 phase depending on the polar vortex strength in 2020 and 2021 are discussed.

This review highlights strategies for the enantioselective total synthesis of cyclolignan natural products from 2000 to 2021. Each subsection focuses on the key strategic disconnections and the enantioselective steps controlling asymmetric induction.

Objectives The purpose of this study is to provide basic information to researchers who want to carry out narrative inquiry in the field of special education in the future. Methods 51 narrative studies in the field of special education in Korea were analyzed from 2000 to 2021. For analysis, analysis criteria were established through a review of prior research, and based on this, analyzed by journal, publication year, research participants, number of participants, research topics, disability area, number of participants, data formation methods, interview period and number of times. Results As a result of the analysis, 11.8% of the papers to be analyzed were published in ‘Korean Journal of Early Childhood Special Education’ and 9.8% in ‘Journal of Special Education: Theory and Practice,’ with a total of 21.6% published in two journals. The publication started with 1 paper in 2004, 8 papers were published in 2021, confirming the increasing trend of narrative inquiry research. As for the participants, 40.7% of special education teachers and 20.3% of general teachers were involved in the study. the number of participants was 1~3 people accounting for the majority. Most of the research topics were instruction and curriculum operation experiences. In the case of the disability area, 46.4% of the studies dealt with the overall disability without limiting the specific disability area, and 8.9% of the single disability area were visual impairment and Multiple disability, respectively. As for the data formation method, 64.7% of them collected individual interviews and field text together. The interview period showed an even distribution from less than 1 month to 12 months. As for the number of individual interviews, 3~4 times were the most at 27.4%. Conclusions Based on these results, implications for the development of narrative inquiry in the field of special education in the future were discussed.

The aim of this research is to explore the research trends of inquiry-based science (IBS) articles in the Web of Science database during 2000-2021. The bibliometric method was used in the research. A total of 662 IBS education articles were included in the study, out of 1389 IBS publications covering all fields published in Web of Science during 2000-2021. Citation and co-citation analysis were applied using VOSviewer software. The data obtained from this analysis are presented with tables, graphs, and bibliometric maps. According to the results, there is an increase in the number of IBS publications or citations in the recent years. The most cited keywords are teacher development, professional development, primary school, science achievement, and PISA. The most cited countries are the USA, Germany, and France. It has recently been determined that there is a trend towards sustainability education, local perspectives, technology, and interdisciplinary integration in IBS studies. The results were discussed with previous studies in the literature and some suggestions were made for future research. This research, which photographs inquired-based science studies published over the last two decades, may be useful to science education experts and curriculum evaluators.

In today’s business environment, financial analysis is considered one of the most reliable tools to judge performance, especially in the banking sector. The present study investigates the financial performance of one of the most famous and highest profitable banks in Jordan, the Arab Bank. It examines the Arab Bank’s financial performance from 2000 to 2019 by adopting the DuPont system of financial analysis of return on equity (ROE) model. This method relies on three main elements, which are net profit margin (NPM), total assets turnover (TAT), and equity multiplier (EM). The main scope of this study is to analyze the profitability and efficiency of the Cooperative for one of the Jordanian banks. Dupont Analysis provides an indicator of the stockholders’ wealth using the ROE index. Secondary data was used by accessing the official website of the Arab Bank and obtaining the financial information by analyzing the annual reports. The study finds that the Arab Bank has maintained stability over two decades with slight fluctuations in the ROE despite the international financial crises. On the other hand, NPM and TAT have witnessed relative strength from 2000 to 2019. Furthermore, EM indicates constant indicators for the period of 2000-2005 while the ratios from 2006 -2019 have diminished, which means the financial leverage of the Arab Bank lately was less dependent on the debts to finance the assets.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to analyze the trends of domestic research studies on parental leave. Methods For the purpose, this study collected a total of 100 journal articles and dissertations on parental leave published from 2000 to 2021, and then analyzed them focusing on the published year, source, academic field, research theme, research participants’ personal information(gender and occupation), types of research methods, data collection and data analysis method, and relevant variables. Results The results are as follows. First, the research studies on parental leave started to increase in 2011- 2015, and then have increased largely since 2016. Second, both journal articles and dissertations showed the similar percentages. Third, the most researches were found in the field of social welfare, among journal articles. Fourth, there were lots of research studies on the ease of use of the parental leave system. Fifth, regarding personal information of the research participants, there were research studies with women more than those with men, and, there were research studies with various occupations more than those with a single occupation without separating occupations. Sixth, there were quantitative research studies a bit more than qualitative research studies as a research method. Seventh, the survey took up more than half of quantitative research studies while the interview method was the most used for qualitative research studies. Eighth, In case of data analysis method, the quantitative researches used the most mixed analysis while the qualitative researches used the most case analysis. Ninth, in case of independent variables, there were the most research studies on the relation with personal characteristics while in case of dependent variables, there were the most researches on the relation with the institutional characteristics. Conclusions These main results were discussed and the implications were provided for the further direction of domestic researches on parental leave.

Aims: Spinal tuberculosis, or Pott's disease, is a bacterial infection of the spine, which is primarily brought on by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, Pott's disease-related research papers from the Web of Science database were examined scientometrically. The study's time frame is between 2000 and 2021. To shed light on the trends and advancements in research on Pott's disease, bibliometric techniques are used in the analysis. Methods: A literature search on spinal tuberculosis was carried out in November 2022 using the WOS search engine. Using specific retrieval keywords, the search covered the years 2000 through 2021. Titles, document types, publication years, author details, affiliations, keywords, funding sponsors, journal names, abstracts, and citations were examined. The data was further processed for both quantitative and qualitative analysis using VOSviewer (1.6.18). Results: A total of 892 papers from 2000 to 2021 were examined based on search parameters. 430 of these were released as Open Access articles. 81.0% of them were in the Science Citation Index Expanded. The publications came from 77 different nations, China dominated research on Pott's disease with 306 papers, followed by India with 147 and the United States with 86. The investigation revealed a rising trend in recent years, pointing to a rise in interest in Pott's disease. Research fields like neurology and orthopedics made important advances. Notably, 7.7% of the research' funding for Pott's disease publications came from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation. The leading publishing journal has become the European Spine Journal. Conclusion: The data shows that China has played a significant role in Pott's disease research, followed by India and the United States. The survey also reveals a growing need for PD research, notably in the disciplines of orthopedics and neurology.

Fondée en 1924, la Compagnie Française des Pétroles n’est encore qu’une société pétrolière de taille modeste au sortir de la deuxième guerre mondiale. En 2003, après avoir racheté Fina puis Elf, la désormais nommée Total SA rassemble près de 100 000 salariés, est présente dans toutes les grandes régions pétrolières mondiales et se considère comme une entreprise qui fournit de l’énergie et non plus seulement du pétrole. La thèse étudie cette identité de groupe, à travers les patrons, les salariés et les clients de Total. Comment les patrons successifs ont-ils conduit leur entreprise, quelle culture ont-ils voulu forger ? Quelle politique salariale est menée, dans le domaine de la formation, de la participation et de la subsidiarité ? Comment les clients sont-ils attachés à la marque Total et fidélisés ? Cette dernière question permet d’aborder le rapport de la société française au pétrole et à la voiture. Total groupe mondial n’est pas seulement un fournisseur d’énergie. L’entreprise pense et conceptualise sa responsabilité sociale et environnementale. En miroir de cette implication sociale, Total est aussi attaquée, voire décriée, pour un laxisme environnemental et pour des bénéfices mal redistribués. L’entreprise réagit de façon chaotique à ces accusations. La thèse s’interroge à ce titre sur le rapport affectif que les Français entretiennent avec le fleuron industriel de leur pays, et sur la façon dont ce fleuron essaye de valoriser son image de marque. C’est cette histoire d’hommes, de pétrole, d’identité et de culture, qui est le fil directeur de notre recherche. À travers le cas de Total, la thèse conduit donc une réflexion sur le capitalisme industriel comme acteur économique et social dans notre pays
Founded in 1924, Compagnie Française des Pétroles is still only a small oil company after the Second World War. In 2003, after buying Fina and then Elf, the company now known as Total SA has nearly 100,000 employees, is present in all the major oil regions of the world and considers itself a company that supplies energy; and not just oil. In about sixty years, it was a global industrial group that was built as much as a human group, endowed with a very strong internal culture.The thesis studies this group identity, through the bosses, employees and customers of Total. How did successive bosses conduct their business, what culture did they want to forge ? What wage policy is being pursued in the field of training, participation and subsidiarity ? How are customers tied to Total and loyalty ? This last question allows us to discuss the French society's relationship with oil and the car. Total global group is not just an energy supplier. The company thinks and conceptualizes its social and environmental responsibility. It conducts a cultural and patronage policy, it encourages its employees to engage in NGOs.In mirroring this social implication, Total is also attacked, even criticized, for environmental laxity and for badly redistributed profits. The company is reacting chaotically to these accusations. The thesis asks about the emotional relationship that the French have with the industrial flourish of their country, and how this jewel tries to enhance its image. It is this history of men, of oil, of identity and of culture, which is the main thread of our research. Through the case of Total, the thesis therefore leads to a reflection on industrial capitalism as an economic and social actor in France

The scientific production on the Innovation, especially on Sustainable Innovation, has grown in recent years. Various expressions and definitions for sustainability and innovation have been reported in the literature. Sometimes the two concepts are combined and described with one term, Sustainable Innovation. Research on sustainable innovation has grown in popularity due to the need to incorporate sustainability within business practices. The purpose of this study is to investigate the status and the evolution of the scientific studies on this topic and identify the worldwide trends in scientific production over time through a research conducted on the metadata of Web of Science, a database commonly used by researchers. A bibliometric analysis has been developed to analyse a total of 1,511 documents published between 2000 and 2021 in order to discover the research trends in this field and the main dimensions and words related to the term “Sustainable Innovation”.

Achieving sustainable economic growth is one of the main goals of economic policy in modern countries. As previous research has shown, the development of financial system has a significant influence on economic growth. The importance of the banking sector in developing countries becomes particularly important due to the insufficient evolvent of other parts of the financial system. The subject of this paper is the analysis of the impact of the banking sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina on economic growth in the period from 2000 to 2021. The aim of the study is to quantify this relationship. The regression relationship between the observed variables was tested, as well as the presence of causality. The results show that the increase in total loans granted by the banking sector to companies from the non-financial sector has a direct positive impact on the development of GDP. Namely, a 1% increase in total bank credit to non-financial private sector firms leads to an increase in GDP of about 0.46%.

This work examines the connectedness of financial stress index (FSI) categorical indicators indicating the US, other advanced economies, and emerging economies. In this context, the authors implement two pioneering methodologies, the Diebold-Yilmaz and the frequency connectedness, and compute spillovers among the FSI categorical indicators between January 3, 2000 and January 22, 2021. In doing so, they estimate global financial stress interdependence during financial turbulent episodes such as the global financial crisis (GFC) and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, they compute overall connectedness of FSI categorical indicators in the short-, medium-, and long-cycle. Overall spillover indexes computed by both methodology create proper signs to prominent financial/geopolitical incidents. Finally, they concentrate on the network connectedness of pairwise spillovers indicating the GFC and the COVID-19 pandemic epochs. The network analysis highlights the key role of equity and volatility channels in catalyzing total spillovers for both of the episodes.

La utilización de desechos neumáticos de llantas como opción de reemplazo parcial o total de agregados de origen natural en la elaboración de concreto se ha estudiado desde la década del 2000. Los estudios realizados se han enfocado en la evaluación del comportamiento mecánico, dinámico y los posibles usos debidos su capacidad como aislante de sonido, disipador de energía y de vibraciones. Una revisión de literatura de investigaciones publicadas en el periodo 2010-2021, nos revela que las mezclas de concreto con partículas de neumático, variando las proporciones de reemplazo, ha generado una disminución de las propiedades mecánicas de compresión y flexión, situación que se constituye en la deficiencia más relevante registrada para este material. Sin embargo, también se ha reportado que modificaciones tales como el empleo de aditivos, material de refuerzo y tratamientos previos al residuo neumático ha generado mejoras significativas en las propiedades evaluadas.

Obesity represents a major global public health problem. In the past few decades the prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide. In 2016, an estimated 1.9 billion adults were overweight; of these more than 650 million were obese. There is an urgent need for potential solutions and deeper understanding of the risk factors responsible for obesity. A bibliometric analysis study was designed to provide a comprehensive overview of top 100 most cited studies on obesity indexed in Web of Science database. The online search was conducted on June 6, 2021 using the keywords “Obesity” OR “Obese” OR “Overweight” in title filed with no limitations on document types or languages. The top 100 cited studies were selected in descending order based on number of citations. The obtained data were imported in to Microsoft Excel 2019 to extract the basic information such as title, authors name, journal name, year of publication and total citations. In addition, the data were also imported in to HistCite™ for further citation analysis, and VOSviewer software for windows to plot the data for network visualization mapping. The initial search retrieved a total of 167,553 documents on obesity. Of the total retrieved documents, only top 100 most cited studies on obesity were included for further analysis. These studies were published from 1982 to 2017 in English language. Most of the studies were published as an article (n = 84). The highly cited study on obesity was “Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey” published in BMJ-British Medical Journal (Impact Factor 39.890, Incites Journal Citation Reports, 2021) in 2000 cited 10,543 times. The average number of citations per study was 2,947.22 (ranging from 1,566 to 10,543 citations). Two studies had more than 10,000 citations. A total of 2,272 authors from 111 countries were involved. The most prolific author was Flegal KM authored 14 studies with 53,558 citations. The highly active country in obesity research was United States of America. The included studies were published in 33 journals. The most attractive journal was JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association (Impact Factor 56.272) published 17 studies and cited globally 51,853 times. The most frequently used keywords were obesity (n = 87) and overweight (n = 22). The countries with highest total link strength was United States of America (n = 155), followed by England (n = 140), and Scotland (n = 130). Our results show that most number of highly cited studies were published in developed countries. The findings of this study can serve as a standard benchmark for researchers to provide the quality bibliographic references and insights into the future research trends and scientific cooperation in obesity research.

The purpose of this research paper is to review the complete CSR literature laying emphasis on CSR constructs and the theoretical perspectives in Pakistan. Collation of existing empirical and exploratory research has been used to make arguments about current status of academic CSR research. A total of sixty-five published articles on CSR from 2000 to 2021 have been reviewed. A thorough overview of CSR constructs highlighted that overall, the CSR constructs are not properly developed, and theoretical foundations are lacking. Corporate donations and philanthropy captured as CSR construct are still familiar among the researchers. It has been observed that the most recent literature is approaching towards maturity. The findings suggest that the lack of adequate explanation of theoretical foundations mislead the interpretation of results. There is partial support in the literature that CSR pays to the firms, as is depicted by the positive relationship between CSR and the facets investigated by the researchers but thorough emphasis is required on CSR measurement. The research can serve as basis for the beginning of an extensive exploration of CSR through the lens of theoretical perspectives and the strong theoretical foundations can result in a mature CSR construct and major contribution in the body of literature.

OBJETIVO: Identificar a importância da fisioterapia respiratória no tratamento da Bronquiolite Viral Aguda em todos os estágios da doença no público pediátrico. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Trata-se de uma revisão narrativa que descreve os manejos que a fisioterapia respiratória pode proporcionar no tratamento da Bronquiolite Viral Aguda em pediatria. Foi realizada uma revisão narrativa tendo como critérios de inclusão: os publicados no Science Direct, na Pubmed e no portal Profisio entre os anos de 2000 a 2021 e que descrevessem a atuação da fisioterapia respiratória baseada em evidências. Critérios de exclusão: as publicações que não atendiam os critérios de elegibilidade tais como: fisioterapia associada a outras estratégias de tratamento, fisioterapia em adultos ou que não mencionassem as técnicas respiratórias em pediatria. No total foram pré-selecionados 25 artigos e excluídos 2, dos quais não atendiam aos critérios. RESULTADOS E DISCUSSÃO: Alguns achados na literatura, trazem que a utilização de técnicas fisioterapêuticas classificadas como não convencionais, tem se mostrado eficazes na prática clínica, principalmente em pacientes hospitalizados. Em contrapartida, os desafios na indicação das técnicas conforme as fases (aguda, subaguda ou crônica) é motivo de questionamento e discussão entre outras categorias profissionais, que muitas vezes contra indicam a fisioterapia respiratória independentemente da fase da doença, na justificativa de que ela não trará benefícios ao paciente. CONSIDERAÇÕES FINAIS: Embora a fisioterapia respiratória não seja muitas vezes indicada, ela é um excelente auxiliar no tratamento da Bronquiolite Viral Aguda.

The research presented in this paper aims to examine the shortterm and long-term effects of international tourism on the economic growth of 17 Mediterranean countries in the period 2000 to 2019. The impact of tourism is not analysed separately. Actually, the indicators of the countries’ labour potential, annual investments, openness to total foreign trade and inflation are also included in the analysis. A panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) evaluation model along with pooled mean group (PMG) estimator was used which proved to be appropriate, based on the characteristics of the panel data series. Our research has shown that the share of international tourism receipts in total exports of a country does not have a statistically significant positive short-term effect on GDP per capita growth, but that it has a statistically significant positive effect in the first lag and a positive long-term effect. Therefore, the hypothesis stating that international tourism receipts have statistically significant short-term and long-term effects on economic growth can be rejected. Our research has shown that economic growth, as a dependent variable, returns to a long-term equilibrium after changing a selected set of independent variables in just over a year. It is vital to note that the size of long-term coefficients obtained by applying the selected model indicates that economic growth is more sensitive to the changes in the share of international tourism in total exports compared to other selected independent variables.

The NICRA project is being implemented in two villages viz., Chamua (since 2010–2011) and Ganakdalani (since 2012–2013 till 2016–2017), which are situated in the west of Lakhimpur district of North Bank Plains Zone of Assam. Chamua village is situated in Kherajkhat Mauza (Taluka), which is 45 km away from North Lakhimpur, the headquarter of district Lakhimpur. On the other hand, Ganakdoloni is situated at Dhalpur Mauza, situated 60 km away from North Lakhimpur and 15 km away from the local township Narayanpur. During 2017–2018 four villages viz., Jakaipelua, Borbali, Borkhet, and Nogaya were adopted under the project. Analysis of long-term rainfall data confirmed the significant decreasing trend of annual as well as monsoonal rainfall in both the Brahmaputra and Barak basins of Assam, India. Variability of rainfall has been increasing in terms of the increased frequency of high-intensity rains and the reduced number of rainy days, leading to localized flash floods and the occurrence of multiple dry spells. Mean season-wise rainfall 2011–2021 indicates long dry periods during the winter season, leading to prolonged dry spells affecting crop growth. About 69% of total rainfall (average annual rainfall of Assam is 2000 mm) is received during the monsoon season, resulting in flash floods leading to crop damage. Out of 12 years of investigation, 10 years are deficit years, resulting in crop stress both during the monsoon and post-monsoon period. Preparation and implementation of real-time crop contingencies are important in responding to weather aberrations in different strategies like preparedness, real-time response, etc. Identification of various adaptation strategies, including climate-resilient crops and cultivars, rainwater harvesting and recycling, efficient energy management through farm mechanization, dissemination of weather information, and weather-based agro-advisories to farmers in a real-time basis, is important adaptation technologies for building climate-resilient agriculture. The study showed that adaption of climate-resilient crop and cropping system and use of harvested rainwater resulted in a 12 to 30% increase in yield observed by the cultivation of high-yielding rice varieties (HYVs) (Ranjit, Gitesh, Mahsuri, etc.) when sown in time (before 15th June) over late sowing conditions (after 20th June). In the case of early season drought, replacement of long duration traditional varieties with short duration HYV and life-saving irrigation using harvested rainwater increased yield by about 59% (short duration var. Dishang) over non-irrigated fields. In case of mid-season and terminal drought, application of an additional dose of 22 kg ha−1 MOP at maximum tillering to grain growth period an increase in yield of about 33% (Ranjit), 32% (Gitesh), 64% (Shraboni), and 57.5% (Mulagabharu) has been observed over farmers’ practice. In highly flood-affected areas under lowland situations replacement of submergence tolerant varieties (Jalashree and Jalkuwari) with traditional deepwater rice varieties resulted in reduced crop loss due to the genetic trait of the deepwater rice, which can withstand water logging for a long period. With an increase in the level of mechanization through the use of machinery available in the custom hiring center the human and animal hour requirement for paddy cultivation was reduced from 795 to 350 hrha−1 and 353 to 23 hrha−1, respectively. Alternate land use in terms of low-cost poly house, vermicompost production, and mushroom cultivation also resulted in nutritional security and generation of higher income for the farmers

Over time, hydro-meteorological disasters, also called weather and/or climate-related disasters have recorded the highest occurrence of natural disasters, not only in European Union (EU) countries, but also worldwide, causing a total of most damage and life losses. Using available updated EM-DAT international disaster database, this study aim to provide the results derived from the analysis of the weather and climate-related disaster at EU countries level. Countries and disaster type disparities in terms of frequency, distribution, mortality and economic losses are highlighted. Since the reported losses have a certain amount of uncertainty, or are missing for some events, only the relevant disasters that resulted in at least ten people death and/or 10 million US$ have been assessed in this study. The EU countries population and GDP/capita time-series data were collected from the statistical database of European Environmental Agency (EEA). Between 2000 and 2021, EM-DAT reported 225 relevant natural disasters in EU countries, causing 86,390 deaths and total estimated direct damages of 186 billion US$. Among all these disasters those triggered by floods prove to be the most prevalent (40 %), followed by storms (28 %). In terms of mortality, most of the killed people were caused by heat waves, with a total of 81,673 registered deaths. Focusing on direct economic losses, floods provide more than half of the damages recorded so far, accounting 59.2 % of losses. Average annual economic losses in EU countries were around 8.5 billion US$, while the average losses per capita were almost 400 US$, which means an average annual loss of about 18 US$ per capita. During this period, no relevant trend was found for the variables analysed.

A bibliometria é um método de pesquisa que permite a verificar a evolução de determinada área do conhecimento e identificar gaps de pesquisa. O objetivo deste estudo é sistematizar estatisticamente a evolução dos estudos sobre o tema mobile banking, tendo como referência a base de dados Emerald. Para tanto foi realizada uma pesquisa teórica, de caráter descritivo e abordagem quantitativa, utilizando como método de pesquisa a bibliometria. Foram coletados todos os artigos relacionados ao tema no período de 2000 até 2021, resultando numa amostra de 85 artigos. Analisou-se a quantidade de publicações em cada ano, a distribuição das publicações por revista, percentual de autores e repetições em outros artigos, Keywords, percentual de subtemas abordados. Os resultados demonstram que na última década o número de ocorrências do tema cresceu e atingiu seu auge em 2019 com 17 artigos publicados. Tendo em vista a pandemia de COVID-19 iniciada em 2020 e um total de 12 artigos publicados, frisa-se a relevância desse tema para este período e a margem para pesquisas pós pandemia que verifiquem possíveis oscilações e os subtemas gerados para nova composição de dados que, majoritariamente têm sido de análise empírica.

The paper focuses on a man caused pressure in the Sula River with organic substances and nutrients which are the main factors affecting the water status. The Sula River is a left tributary of the Dnipro River flows into the Sulynska Bay of the Kremenchuk Reservoir. The water resources of the Sula River are used for drinking water supply, melioration, fish farming, etc. The Sulynska Bay is a spawning area for fish and the place of their largest commercial concentration. For a long time, the bay has been experiencing frequent cases of a critical decrease in dissolved O2, resulting in fish kills. Materials and methods of the study. The Electronic Services Portal of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine (e-services.davr.gov.ua) as of 2021 was used to assess the contribution of studied compounds from point sources. The population was calculated based on the Atlas of the Administrative and Territorial Arrangement of Ukraine (2021). The pressure of nutrients and organic substances is calculated based on the person’s excretion coefficients, their removal by treatment facilities (Behrendt, Huber, Kornmilch et al., 2000; Osadcha, Luzovitska, Ukhan et al., 2022). Results and discussion. The total pressure from point sources is the sum of the urban population's contributions and industrial enterprises. Pollution with organic substances and nutrients from point sources is mainly associated with the wastewater discharge from settlements. There are 1141 settlements in the Sula basin, including 7 ones with a population ≥ 10 ths. people (36%), and 17 settlements with 2-10 ths. people (12%). The pressure of organic substances from the population connected to sewer systems was 512.9 t•year-1 for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and 726.7 t•year-1 for chemical oxygen demand (COD). In terms of nutrients, the flow to surface waters was 162.3 t•year-1 for N and 56.1 t•year-1 for P. The largest organic pollution is caused by wastewater from the Ichnia municipal facility, while the nutrient pressure was caused by the corresponding enterprise in Pryluky. Annually, 111.2 t•year-1 of organic substances in terms of BOD5 and 133.1 t•year-1 in terms of COD is discharged into the Sula River basin with industrial wastewater. The pressure of nutrients supplied by industrial wastewater was 18.4 t•year-1 of Total nitrogen (TN) and 1.8 t•year-1 of Total Phosphorus (TP). The largest polluter in the Sula basin is Linovytskyi Sugar Plant “Krasnyi”, whose wastewater discharged ~ 67% of nutrients and up to 96% of organic substances from the total amount. Diffuse sources are dominated by pollution from the population without access to sewerage networks. To a greater extent, this applies to small settlements of ≤ 2000 people. This pressure is 2304 t•year-1 for BOD5 and 3917 t•year-1 for COD. Additionally, 224.3 tons of nitrogen and 31.5 tons of phosphorus are discharged annually into the Sula basin. The role of other diffuse sources, such as agriculture, land use patterns, etc., has a much smaller impact on the formation of surface water quality in the Sula River basin. Conclusions. The ecological status of surface waters in the Sula River basin depends on the quantitative parameters of anthropogenic pressure, which, according to BOD5, is 2928 t•year-1, COD – 4777 t•year-1. For nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, the obtained indicators in the context of the year reach 405 t•year-1 and 89 t•year-1. The peculiarity of the Sula River basin is that the dominant share of organic substances and nitrogen comes from diffuse sources. The relative contribution of distributed sources for BOD5, COD, and TN is 79%, 82%, and 55%, respectively. At the same time, for TP, the main pressure is formed by point sources. A similar pattern is characteristic of other river basins in Ukraine and around the world and is related to the peculiarities of the P geochemical cycle. The contribution of diffuse sources is due to the total natural background and the population without access to sewerage networks. Among the point sources, 82 - 89% of the pressure is associated with wastewater discharge from municipal enterprises. The results obtained should serve as a basis for developing measures to overcome the impact of anthropogenic pressure.

A região da Costa Verde no sul do estado do Rio de Janeiro compreende os municípios de Mangaratiba, Angra dos Reis e Paraty. Esta região possui uma faixa litorânea de aproximadamente 180 km de extensão, onde existem condições propícias para a maricultura. Sua população estimada é de 300.286 mil habitantes. Devido a sua longa faixa de costa, esta área possui inúmeros trechos de drenagens que exportam materiais pelos rios até a Baía da Ilha Grande. Dentre os materiais dispersados das plumas estuarinas, podemos destacar o esgoto doméstico. Sendo assim, o objetivo do presente estudo é estimar cargas de coliformes totais (CT) na água dos rios Perequeaçu, Fazenda São Roque, Taquari, Mambucaba, Frade, Bracuí, Meio, Centro Angra, Jacuecanga e Jacareí, cujo trechos de drenagem percorrem grandes áreas urbanizadas entre os municípios de Angra dos Reis e Paraty. Este trabalho tem como objetivo permitir o desenvolvimento de um modelo baseado em regressão linear, entre a quantidade de habitantes por km² e a quantidade de CT encontradas nos rios que propicie a formulação e mapas de contaminação fecal no litoral que auxiliem na tomada de decisão. Para cálculo da area total cada bacia de drenagens utilizou-se o programa Quantum Gis – QGIS, projeção SIRGAS 2000 UTM 23S. A densidade populacional de cada município foi estimada de acordo com o IBGE 2021. A população existente em cada bacia de drenagem foi estimada pela razão entre a área total urbanizada e a DP. Para análise de coliformes foi utilizado o Número Mais Provável de coliformes (NMP/100mL), através do método do substrato enzimático Orto-nitrofenil-ß-D- galactopiranosídeo (ONPG) – Colilert® (Idexx). Os rios com as maiores populações em seu entorno foram: Mambucaba (3.690 hab/km²), Bracuí (1.508 hab/km²) e Meio (958 hab/km²). Até aqui foram calculadas as médias dos quatro meses para o NMP, sendo os maiores valores encontrados para os rios Centro de Angra (241,590), Jacuecanga (186,386) e Meio (159,196). Para o cálculo de correlação, os valores foram normalizados através de testes matemáticos e excluídos os outliers. Observou-se que a melhor correlação se deu entre Log10 da média do NMP, com a Raíz Cúbica de DP (r² = 0,51), não ocorrendo diferença significativa. Podemos concluir que os valores registrados indicam contaminação elevada por coliformes e que existe correlação, ainda que baixa, entre DP e coliformes, sendo necessário a finalização do período de coletas para um diagnóstico mais robusto do atual cenário ambiental observado para a Costa Verde Fluminense.

Objective: Paget’s disease of the breast (PDB) is a rare nipple entity associated with multifocality. Due to its location, it is necessary to resect the nipple-areolar complex. For surgery, central quadrantectomy, and for mastectomy was the treatment in the past. The feasibility of performing oncoplastic breast surgery (OBS) for PDB is unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of oncoplastic surgery for Patet’s disease of the breast. Methodology: This retrospective study was approved by the institutional Research Ethics Committee under numbers 657293 and CAAE 31046314.5.0000.5437. Patients with PDB treated at a tertiary cancer hospital between 2000 and 2021 were evaluated. We evaluated the factors related to the performance of OBS in PDB. In addition, the impact of OBS on local recurrence and survival was analyzed. Comparisons were made between groups using the chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kaplan-Meier method. To assess the impact factor of the variables on the performance of OBS, logistic regression was performed. Results: A total of 85 patients were evaluated. OBS was performed in 69.4% (n=59), and of these, 16 (27.2%) were symmetrized with a contralateral surgery. Mastectomy without reconstruction was performed in 28.3% of the patients. The main procedure performed was mastectomy with reconstruction (44.7%), and the preferential technique for immediate reconstruction was skin sparing mastectomy with prosthesis, and for late reconstruction, latissimus dorsi. BCS was performed in 27.0%, mainly with plug-flap technique (OBS). Age was associated with the use of OBS, wherein patients aged 40–49 years were associated with a higher rate of OBS (p=0.002; odds ratio 3.22). OBS did not influence local recurrence (p=1.000), overall survival (p=0.185), or cancer-specific survival (p=0.418). Conclusion: OBS improves the quality of surgical treatment in PDB without influencing local recurrence or survival.

This paper introduces five metrics for measuring the frequencies of dative predicatives in Russian.А dative predicative is a word or multiword expression licensing the dative-predicative-structure, where the semantic subject of the non-agreeing non-verbal predicate is marked by the dative case. I measure the frequencies of the predicatives in the contact position <-1;1> with the same-clause dative subject pronouns in 1Sg (m-metrics) and 3Sg (e-metrics). The m-metrics is applied for retrieving a list of dative predicatives from a corpus. I argue that for each large text collection there is a minimal m-value confirming that an item belongs to the core of the dative-predicative structure. The m/e score makes up the third metrics that shows whether an element is oriented towards the use in the 1 st person or not. Basing on the m-metrics, I retrieved 3 lists of predicatives in the subcorpus of 2000–2021 texts included in the Russian National Corpus. The A list includes 87 items with m  10, the B list includes 44 items with m  50, the C list includes 24 items with m  100. 72-79% of items in each list have an m/e value  1,25. A linguistic interpretation of this result is that for each list of dative predicatives it is true that the majority of its elements are autoreferential expressions oriented towards the use in the 1st person present indicative tense in the direct speech. The fourth metrics shows the total number of occurrences of a word or multiword expression in the corpus (N). I argue that the N score must be measured before POS tagging, and lemmatization. The fifth and the last metrics is the m/N score. The RNC data suggest an inverse correlation between the score of an item in the context specific for dative-predicative structures (m) and its overall frequency in the corpus (N). This effect is explained by the regular homonymy of high frequent predicatives with high frequent adverbials and parenthetical expressions.

ABSTRACT Energized fracturing with CO2 is considered as an alternative method to conventional water-based hydraulic fracturing, which brings advantages in water conservation and environment protection as well as in hot enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). However, the varying thermodynamic and transport properties of CO2 could be problematic in energized fracturing. To investigate the effects of CO2 pressure-temperature-dependant properties on fracture propagation, an extensive numerical simulation is performed using a robust fracturing simulator developed on Complex Systems Modelling Platform (CSMP-HF). Based on the Span-Wagner equation of state, the thermodynamic and transport properties of CO2 in varied in-situ conditions (i.e., pressure and temperature) during energized fracturing process are calculated. The simulation results show that in-situ stress conditions affect the fracture growth speed under constant CO2 mass rate. The additional storage volume brought by injection system contribute significantly to the hydraulic fracturing speed. Higher propagation speed may result in dynamic fracture propagation and thus resulting in branching, a subject for further research. INTRODUCTION Hydraulic fracturing technology plays a key role in promoting efficient energy extraction. Not only hydraulic fractures can enhance the oil and gas production from unconventional reservoirs, but also de-risk coal mining by inducing and controlling the time of goaf events (Adachi et al., 2007; Hou et al., 2021; Jeffrey & Mills, 2000; Middleton et al., 2015). According to the background review commissioned by the Department of the Environment (Commonwealth of Australia, 2014), the estimate in 2012 of Australian economic demonstrated resources of CSG was 35,905 Petajoules, which is equivalent to nearly 10 times the total yearly energy use. Besides, for the future mining cave extensions to massive and deep orebodies in Australia, such as Northparkes mine (Webster et al., 2020), Ridgeway Deeps (Cuello & Newcombe, 2018), and Cadia East (Orrego et al., 2020), hydraulic fracturing is proposed as a profitable and sustainable preconditioning technique to manage and enhance the caving process (Catalan, 2015).

This paper discusses the drilling operations performed on the first 3 drilling wells of the Sapi Re-Activated Development Drilling Wells with PT Hulu Kalimantan Timur. The project aims to have additional gas production from the Sapi Field which needs to be put back on production after the gas production has been inactive since the closing of the Sapi production facilities at the end of 2018. Sapi Field has been developed since the POD (Plan of Development) was approved in 2000. There were 21 development wells in total (7 wells were the re-drill wells) drilled through 14 platform slots during the development period from 2000 onwards. This re-activation drilling campaign had been planned for the 2023 Drilling Budget realization. However, the PHKT management decided to accelerate the program of drilling 7 new wells since the requirement of gas consumption in East Kalimantan must be urgently fulfilled. However, the drilling team decided to convert 3 (three) of the 7 new wells to re-drill wells so that the overall Sapi drilling campaign could be executed earlier, around the end of 2021, by optimizing the utilization of available slots at the Sapi Platform. The 1st well of the Sapi Drilling Campaign was completed safely in 30 days. The well was a re-drill that was sidetracked thru the 9-5/8” casing of a mother well that was plugged & abandoned previously. The well was completed with a cost of around 25% below budget. It was discovered that net sand was 40% higher than the prognosis with the following events encountered during drilling the well: rig stability; SIMOP operation for demolition work through an offset platform; social problems resulting from villagers' intervention; penetration of long hard sand intervals; lower FIT value than expected; and well control event to circulate high gas influence while drilling the 6-1/8” section. Lost circulation problem was potentially expected to be a drilling hazard at several depleted zones, and kick problems were also potentially to be encountered through high-pressure zones at depths deeper than 12,000 ft VD. Therefore it is a great opportunity to discuss in this paper, particularly the lessons learned through the drilling operation of these 3 (three) re-drill wells. All matters concerning the execution of drilling operations on the first, second, and third re-drills had been thoroughly evaluated. All similar potential drawbacks could be anticipated and avoided for better performance improvement. Therefore, the drilling performance of the next 4 new wells can be improved considerably. The drilling cost of the last re-drill well, Sapi-5RD2, was indicated to have significant improvement over the first well. The Drilling Division of PT PERTAMINA Hulu Kalimantan Timur had spent only around 66 % of the approved AFE budget to complete the well. Detailed operational drawbacks and evaluation processes to result from significant drilling performance improvement from one well to the other consecutive wells are discussed in detail.

Abstract Significant discrepancy exists between the gas migration rates observed during the field applications of Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling (PMCD) and the widely used Taylor bubble velocity correlation. This impacts the fluid logistics planning and design of fluid properties for PMCD applications. Pilot-scale experiments and simulations have shown the importance of wellbore length-scale for estimating gas migration velocity (Samdani et al., 2021, 2022). Therefore, an industry-first well-scale study of gas migration in synthetic-based mud (SBM) was performed using a 5200-ft-deep vertical test-well (9-5/8″ × 2-7/8″ casing/tubing) located at Louisiana State University (LSU) well testing facilities. This test well is instrumented with 4 downhole pressure gauges and distributed temperature/acoustics sensing (DTS/DAS) fiber optic cables which were used to track the migrating gas and to determine its velocity. In a typical test, bottomhole pressure (BHP) was maintained, while gas migrated in a shut-in well. Tests were conducted by varying gas injection rate (10-250 gpm), total gas influx size (10-20 bbl), and BHP (2200-4500 psi). Gas migration rates indicated presence of Taylor bubbles at lower pressures (&lt;2000 psi) and relatively smaller cap-bubbles at higher pressures (&gt;2700 psi). The observation of pressure-dependent flow regime transition in a wellbore is one of the significant outcomes of this study. Changes in gas influx rate also influenced the gas migration velocity as it impacts the gas holdup and the rate at which gas can dissolve in comparison with the injection rate, under the prevailing flow regime. As a result, increase in influx rate led to higher gas migration velocity. A numerical model was also developed incorporating the experimentally observed relationship between pressure and transition of flow regime, to translate the test results into useful information and predictions for field PMCD. For example, the impact of reservoir gas solubility on gas migration rates was determined using this model while using the test-results based on nitrogen gas migration. The model results for reservoir gas migration rates in SBM showed a reasonable match with field-PMCD data under similar conditions.

ABSTRACT The effective stress coefficient is important to describe the stress and deformation of rock. However, when shale is in the plastic stage, the mathematical expression of the effective stress coefficient is still unclear. Based on Prandtl-Reuss model, the incremental constitutive relation of shale in elastic-perfectly plastic condition is established. The plastic effective stress coefficient of shale in this condition is obtained. The mathematical expression of the effective stress coefficient tensor elastoplasticity is proposed by defining the correction function. The mechanical properties of shale are analyzed when the correction function is a power function by combining the specific parameters of shale. The results show that when 0 ≤ n ≤ 0.932, the effect of pore pressure on the plastic effective stress coefficient is related to the confining pressure. The plastic effective and Biot effective stress coefficients are gradually equal with the increase of pore pressure. Combining the four basic operations and composite operations of specific functions allows a correction function suitable for the plastic effective stress coefficient of shale. INTRODUCTION Shale is a typical rock used to develop oil and gas resources. With the decreasing reserves of conventional oil and gas resources and the increasing proven reserves of unconventional oil and gas resources such as shale oil, the study of shale is getting more and more attention. There are many natural microcracks and micropores in shale (Zhang et al., 2022), which cannot be ignored for their impact on rock mechanical properties. The free-moving fluid in micro cracks and micropores changes the mechanical behavior of porous media (Cheng, 1993; Xu 2001) and generates pore pressure in micro cracks and micropores of porous media. The difference between the effective stress and the total stress acting on the rock solid skeleton makes the mechanical properties of saturated rock with pore pressure significantly different from those of dry rock (Berryman, 1992; James G, 1992; Diansen Yang, 2010; Dong Chen, 2016; Liu, 2018; A M Gorshkov, 2020). Schrefler (1998) extended the saturated single-phase theory to the multiphase fluid. Zimmerman (2000) applied the pore elasticity theory to the fractured media. However, none of the above scholars have considered the issue of deep shale deformation entering the stage of pore plastic deformation. In the process of deep oil and gas extraction, the brittle shale will transform into elastic-plastic shale due to the high-temperature field, high-stress field, and high pore pressure field (Li et al., 2020; Crisci Eleonora, 2021).

There are two types of ancillary funds that may qualify for DGR status – Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs) and Public Ancillary Funds (PubAFs). The intended purpose of an ancillary fund is to act as an intermediary between donors and organisations (not individuals) that can receive tax deductible donations. In total, as at 30 June 2019, there were 3,090 ancillary funds, with combined net assets of $10.33 billion. They received $1.39 billion in donations in the 2018–19 year and distributed $967 million in grants.

La brecha de ingresos laborales entre hombres y mujeres en América Latina es un obstáculo para lograr la igualdad de género y el desarrollo sostenible. En Ecuador, si bien no se observa una brecha pronunciada en ingresos a nivel agregado, se aprecia que persiste una brecha no explicada. A pesar de que las mujeres, en muchos casos, tienen un mejor perfil laboral que los hombres, su nivel de ingresos no refleja ese mejor perfil laboral, lo que sugiere la existencia de sesgos de género. También se aprecia que la brecha total existe entre trabajadores del sector informal, en el área rural y en trabajadores por cuenta propia. Además, se percibe una diferencia de ingresos heterogénea, pero a favor de los hombres en la mayoría de las ocupaciones. Para analizar la brecha de ingresos laborales por género en Ecuador entre 2000 y 2021 se utilizaron las Encuestas Nacional Empleo, Desempleo y Subempleo ENEMDU realizadas por el Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos de Ecuador (INEC) y armonizadas por el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Se presentan dos metodologías para estimarla: la descomposición Blinder-Oaxaca y la de Ñopo. El análisis en el tiempo de más de dos décadas muestra una reducción de la brecha de total ingresos laborales en el periodo analizado, y al mismo tiempo parece apuntar a la existencia de discriminación de género. Esto indica que se requieren esfuerzos adicionales para comprender esta disparidad. El análisis muestra que, si bien la brecha total se ha reducido, como en muchos otros países de la región, la reducción de la brecha total en general está asociada a la brecha explicada, y no a una reducción de la brecha no explicada que se mantiene en el tiempo.

This synthesis focuses on the history of research on coral reefs within two U.S. National Park Service units in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands: Buck Island Reef National Monument (from 1961 to 2022) and Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (from 1980 to 2022). Buck Island Reef National Monument (BUIS) is off the north shore of the island of St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Established in 1961 and expanded in 2001, it is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS). Long-term monitoring programs maintained by the NPS and jointly by the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (VIDPNR) provide data on trends in living coral cover and specific coral species from 2000 and 2001, respectively. Disease, thermal stress (indicated by coral bleaching), and hurricanes reduced total coral cover periodically, but cover remained relatively stable from 2007 through the end of 2020. Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (SARI) is a national park on the north shore of the island of St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Established in 1992, it is co-managed by the NPS and the Government of the Virgin Islands. Long-term monitoring programs maintained by the NPS and by the UVI with the VIDPNR provide data on trends in living coral cover and individual coral species from 2011 and 2001, respectively. In spite of thermal stress (indicated by coral bleaching), disease, and hurricanes, total coral cover remained relatively stable through the end of 2020. This document also includes results from extensive investigations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and from many individual projects including those based out of the underwater saturation habitats Hydrolab and Aquarius from 1977 to 1989, as well as studies from researchers at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s West Indies Laboratory. While not possible to review all of these in detail, this report highlights information considered useful to managers, and scientists planning future research. In 2021, a particularly virulent disease called stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), first noted in 2014 in Florida, and then in 2019 in the U.S. Virgin Islands, started killing corals in BUIS and SARI with the different species showing a gradient of susceptibility. An exact cause or link between this disease and human actions has not been discovered to date. The losses associated with this disease have now exceeded those from any other stressors in these national parks.

Mojave National Preserve (MOJA) in the Mojave Desert of southern California hosts an extensive geologic record, with units ranging in age from the Paleoproterozoic (2.5 to 1.7 billion years ago) to the Quaternary (present day). MOJA topography is dominated by numerous mountain ranges hosting extensive geological exposures divided by expansive valleys, dunes, and a low elevation dry salt lake. Some geological units are fossil-bearing, both within the preserve and in adjacent lands outside the boundaries of the preserve. The fossils preserved within MOJA span from the Proterozoic Eon (uncertain maximum age of fossiliferous rocks, but at least approximately 550 million years ago) to the Holocene Epoch (beginning 11,700 years ago). Abundant and diverse marine fossils are preserved in units dated from the late Proterozoic through most of the Cambrian, as well as from the Devonian through the early Permian. More recent volcanic tuff and unconsolidated sedimentary deposits in valleys preserve Cenozoic flora and fauna. Geologic surveys documented paleontological resources within the modern (2023) boundaries of MOJA as early as 1914, but fossils were rarely the focus of detailed study, and no comprehensive inventory was compiled. John Hazzard was the first geologist to devote significant attention to the study of paleontology within MOJA. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Hazzard and collaborators identified Paleozoic assemblages within the Kelso and Providence Mountains. Between the 1950s to 1980s, several dissertations and theses described the geology of various areas within MOJA, in which the authors provided limited paleontological descriptions and fossil locality information. Jack Mount conducted extensive paleontological research in the Cambrian sections of the Providence Mountains in the 1970s and 1980s, focusing on olenellid trilobites in the Latham Shale. As early as the 1960s, rockhounds collecting opalite and petrified wood discovered fossilized plant material and vertebrate bones in areas now in south-central MOJA and notified paleontologists at San Bernardino County Museum (SBCM). This resulted in one of the only paleontological excavations in what is now MOJA, with collections of Miocene vertebrate fauna including camelid and early rhino material. More recently, James Hagadorn reported the late-surviving Ediacaran organism Swartpuntia in an assemblage from the Wood Canyon Formation of the Kelso Mountains in 2000. From October 2021 to January 2022, a field inventory was conducted to determine the scope and distribution (both temporal and geospatial) of paleontological resources at MOJA. An additional week of field work was conducted in December 2022. A total of thirteen localities were documented and field-checked throughout the preserve. These localities resulted from field checks of previously reported fossil sites, as well as new discoveries based on literature searches and information provided by MOJA staff. The findings of this report constitute a baseline of paleontology resource data for MOJA, and reflect the current understanding of the scope, significance, and distribution of MOJA’s fossil record. This report provides a foundation for the management and protection of paleontological resources within MOJA and supports future education, interpretation,

Mojave National Preserve (MOJA) in the Mojave Desert of southern California hosts an extensive geologic record, with units ranging in age from the Paleoproterozoic (2.5 to 1.7 billion years ago) to the Quaternary (present day). MOJA topography is dominated by numerous mountain ranges hosting extensive geological exposures divided by expansive valleys, dunes, and a low elevation dry salt lake. Some geological units are fossil-bearing, both within the preserve and in adjacent lands outside the boundaries of the preserve. The fossils preserved within MOJA span from the Proterozoic Eon (uncertain maximum age of fossiliferous rocks, but at least approximately 550 million years ago) to the Holocene Epoch (beginning 11,700 years ago). Abundant and diverse marine fossils are preserved in units dated from the late Proterozoic through most of the Cambrian, as well as from the Devonian through the early Permian. More recent volcanic tuff and unconsolidated sedimentary deposits in valleys preserve Cenozoic flora and fauna. Geologic surveys documented paleontological resources within the modern (2023) boundaries of MOJA as early as 1914, but fossils were rarely the focus of detailed study, and no comprehensive inventory was compiled. John Hazzard was the first geologist to devote significant attention to the study of paleontology within MOJA. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Hazzard and collaborators identified Paleozoic assemblages within the Kelso and Providence Mountains. Between the 1950s to 1980s, several dissertations and theses described the geology of various areas within MOJA, in which the authors provided limited paleontological descriptions and fossil locality information. Jack Mount conducted extensive paleontological research in the Cambrian sections of the Providence Mountains in the 1970s and 1980s, focusing on olenellid trilobites in the Latham Shale. As early as the 1960s, rockhounds collecting opalite and petrified wood at Hackberry Wash discovered fossilized plant material and vertebrate bones and notified paleontologists at San Bernardino County Museum (SBCM). This resulted in one of the only paleontological excavations in what is now MOJA, with collections of Miocene vertebrate fauna including camelid and early rhino material. More recently, James Hagadorn reported the late-surviving Ediacaran organism Swartpuntia in an assemblage from the Wood Canyon Formation of the Kelso Mountains in 2000. From October 2021 to January 2022, a field inventory was conducted to determine the scope and distribution (both temporal and geospatial) of paleontological resources at MOJA. An additional week of field work was conducted in December 2022. A total of thirteen localities were documented and field-checked throughout the preserve. These localities resulted from field checks of previously reported fossil sites, as well as new discoveries based on literature searches and information provided by MOJA staff. The findings of this report constitute a baseline of paleontology resource data for MOJA, and reflect the current understanding of the scope, significance, and distribution of MOJA’s fossil record. This report provides a foundation for the management and protection of paleontological resources within MOJA and supports future education, interpretation, and research.

Introducción En 2023 el Banco de la República celebra 100 años de su fundación. Este es un aniversario de gran significado, el cual ofrece la oportunidad de resaltar el aporte que el Banco ha hecho al desarrollo del país. Su trayectoria como garante de la estabilidad monetaria lo ha consolidado como la institución estatal independiente que genera mayor confianza entre los colombianos por su transparencia, capacidad de gestión y el cumplimiento efectivo de las funciones de banca central y culturales encomendadas en la Constitución y la Ley. En una fecha tan importante como esta, la Junta Directiva del Banco de la República (JDBR) hace un reconocimiento a las generaciones de directivos y funcionarios que con su compromiso y dedicación contribuyeron a engrandecer esta institución1. El mandato del Banco de la República se consolidó en la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente de 1991, para cuya integración los ciudadanos tuvieron la oportunidad de elegir a las setenta personas que tendrían como tarea redactar una nueva constitución. Los dirigentes de los tres movimientos políticos más votados fueron elegidos presidentes de la Asamblea, y esta presidencia tripartita reflejó la pluralidad y la necesidad de consenso entre las diferentes fuerzas políticas para sacar adelante la reforma. Entre los asuntos considerados, la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente le otorgó especial importancia a la estabilidad monetaria. Por esta razón decidió incluir el tema de banca central y dotar al Banco de la República de la autonomía necesaria para utilizar los instrumentos a su cargo sin injerencia de otras autoridades. El constituyente entendió que velar por la estabilidad de precios es un deber del Estado y que la entidad responsable de este cometido debe estar consagrada en la Constitución y contar con la capacidad técnica y autonomía institucional necesaria para adoptar las decisiones que considere pertinentes para alcanzar este objetivo fundamental, en coordinación con la política económica general. En particular, el artículo 373 estableció que “el Estado, por intermedio del Banco de la República, velará por el mantenimiento de la capacidad adquisitiva de la moneda”, disposición que coincidía con el esquema de banca central adoptado por países exitosos en el control de la inflación. En 1999, mediante sentencia 481, la Corte Constitucional indicó que “el deber de mantener la capacidad adquisitiva de la moneda no solo se predica de la autoridad monetaria, crediticia y cambiaria, esto es de la Junta del Banco de la República, sino también de quienes tienen responsabilidades en la formulación y ejecución de la política económica general del país” y que “la finalidad constitucional básica del Banco de la República es la protección de la moneda sana, pero esa autoridad debe tomar en consideración en sus decisiones los otros objetivos económicos de la intervención del Estado, como el pleno empleo, pues sus funciones deben coordinarse con la política económica general.” La reforma al Banco de la República concertada en la Constituyente de 1991 y en la Ley 31 de 1992 se puede resumir en los siguientes aspectos: i) asignó al Banco un mandato específico: mantener la capacidad adquisitiva de la moneda, en coordinación con la política económica general; ii) designó a la JDBR como autoridad monetaria, cambiaria y crediticia; iii) otorgó al Banco y a su Junta Directiva un importante grado de independencia frente al Gobierno; iv) prohibió al Banco otorgar crédito al sector privado distinto del financiero; v) estableció que para otorgar crédito al Gobierno se requería del voto unánime de su Junta Directiva, a menos que se trate de operaciones de mercado abierto; vi) determinó que el legislador, en ningún caso, podrá ordenar cupos de crédito a favor del Estado o de los particulares; vii) designó al Congreso, en representación de la sociedad, como principal destinatario del ejercicio de rendición de informes del Banco; y viii) delegó en el presidente de la República la función de inspección, vigilancia y control sobre el Banco de la República. Los miembros de la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente entendieron claramente que los beneficios de una inflación baja y estable se extienden a toda la sociedad y contribuyen al buen funcionamiento del sistema económico. Entre los más importantes cabe mencionar que una inflación baja promueve el uso eficiente de los recursos productivos, al permitir que los precios relativos guíen de mejor forma la asignación de recursos, lo cual promueve el crecimiento económico y aumenta el bienestar de la población. Igualmente, una inflación baja reduce la incertidumbre sobre la rentabilidad esperada de la inversión y sobre el precio futuro de los activos, lo que aumenta la confianza de los agentes económicos, facilita la financiación de largo plazo y estimula la inversión. Una inflación baja evita redistribuciones arbitrarias del ingreso y la riqueza, debido a que los estratos de ingresos bajos de la población no pueden protegerse de la inflación mediante la diversificación de sus activos, y concentran una elevada proporción de su ingreso en la compra de alimentos y otros bienes básicos, ítems que generalmente son los más afectados por los choques inflacionarios2. Por otra parte, una baja inflación facilita las negociaciones salariales, lo cual crea un buen clima laboral y reduce la volatilidad del nivel de empleo. Finalmente, una inflación baja contribuye a que el sistema de impuestos sea más transparente y equitativo, al evitar las distorsiones que la inflación introduce sobre el valor de los activos y de los ingresos que componen la base tributaria. Desde el punto de vista de la autoridad monetaria, uno de los beneficios más relevantes de una inflación baja es la credibilidad que los agentes económicos adquieren en la meta de inflación, lo que la convierte en un ancla nominal efectiva sobre el nivel de precios. Al recibir su mandato, y en uso de su autonomía, el Banco de la República empezó a anunciar metas puntuales de inflación anual a partir de 1992. Si bien en esta primera etapa las metas de inflación propuestas no se lograron cumplir de forma precisa, sí se consiguió imprimirle a la inflación una tendencia descendente, que la llevó desde un nivel del 32,4% en 1990 al 16,7% en 1998. Para aquella época la tasa de cambio se mantenía dentro de una banda, lo cual limitaba la efectividad de la política monetaria, que buscaba cumplir simultáneamente una meta de inflación y un objetivo de tasa de cambio. La crisis asiática se contagió a las economías emergentes y afectó de manera importante a la economía colombiana. La tasa de cambio presentó una fuerte presión a la depreciación al cerrarse el acceso al financiamiento externo en condiciones de un elevado desequilibrio externo. Lo anterior, junto con la falta de flexibilidad cambiaria, impidió hacer una política monetaria contracíclica, lo que condujo a una contracción del PIB del 4,2% en dicho año. En este contexto de desaceleración económica, la inflación anual se redujo al 9,2% a finales de 1999, situándose por debajo de la meta del 15% que se había fijado para ese año. Este episodio reveló plenamente lo costoso que podría ser, en términos de actividad económica, el tener simultáneamente metas para la inflación y para la tasa de cambio. Hacia finales de 1999 el Banco de la República anunció la adopción de un nuevo régimen de política monetaria que denominó Esquema de Inflación Objetivo. Este régimen, conocido internacionalmente como ‘Inflation Targeting,’ venía ganando creciente aceptación en países desarrollados, al haber sido adoptado a partir de 1991 por Nueva Zelanda, Canadá e Inglaterra, entre otros, logrando importantes avances en el manejo de la inflación, sin incurrir en costos en términos de actividad económica. En América Latina, Brasil y Chile también lo acogieron en 1999. En el caso colombiano, el último requisito pendiente por cumplir para adoptar dicho esquema de política era la flexibilidad de la tasa de cambio, la cual se materializó hacia septiembre de 1999, cuando la JDBR decidió abandonar las bandas cambiarias para permitir que la tasa de cambio se determinara libremente en el mercado. De forma coherente con el mandato constitucional, el objetivo fundamental de este nuevo esquema de política consistía en “el cumplimiento de una meta de inflación que contribuya a mantener un crecimiento del producto alrededor de su capacidad potencial”3. Dicha capacidad potencial se entendía como aquel crecimiento del PIB que la economía puede obtener si utiliza plenamente sus recursos productivos. Para cumplir este objetivo la política monetaria debe cumplir necesariamente un papel contracíclico en la economía. Ello porque cuando la actividad económica está por debajo de su potencial y existen recursos ociosos, la autoridad monetaria puede reducir la tasa de interés ante la ausencia de presiones inflacionarias para estimular por esa vía la economía y, de manera inversa, cuando el producto supera su capacidad potencial. Este principio de política, que está inmerso en los modelos para guiar la postura de política monetaria, hace que, en el mediano plazo, sean totalmente compatibles los objetivos del cumplimiento de la meta de inflación y de un nivel de actividad económica compatible con su capacidad productiva. Para alcanzar este propósito, en el esquema de inflación objetivo se utiliza la tasa de interés del mercado monetario (a la cual el banco central suministra liquidez primaria a los bancos comerciales), como el instrumento primordial de política. Con ello se sustituyó la cantidad de dinero como meta intermedia de política monetaria, que el Banco de la República, al igual que varios otros bancos centrales, utilizaron por mucho tiempo. En el caso colombiano, el objetivo del nuevo esquema de política monetaria implicaba, en términos prácticos, que la recuperación de la economía, luego de la contracción ocurrida en 1999, debía lograrse al tiempo que se cumplían las metas decrecientes de inflación establecidas por la JDBR. De manera notable este propósito se cumplió. En la primera mitad de la década del 2000 la actividad económica logró una recuperación importante, hasta alcanzar un crecimiento del 6,8% en 2006. Entretanto, la inflación fue descendiendo gradualmente, en línea con las metas de inflación. Fue así como la tasa de inflación se redujo desde el 9,2% en 1999 al 4,5% en 2006, cumpliendo con la meta de inflación establecida para ese año, mientras que el PIB alcanzó su nivel potencial. Después de lograrse este equilibrio en 2006, la inflación repuntó al 5,7% en 2007, por encima de la meta del 4% fijada para ese año, debido a que el crecimiento del PIB del 7,5% superó su capacidad potencial4. Luego de comprobarse la eficacia del esquema de inflación objetivo en sus primeros años de operación, este régimen de política continuó consolidándose a medida que la JDBR y el equipo técnico ganaron experiencia en su manejo y se incorporaron modelos económicos de última tecnología para diagnosticar el estado presente y futuro de la economía, y evaluar la persistencia de los desvíos de la inflación y sus expectativas con respecto a la meta de inflación. A partir de 2010 la JDBR estableció la meta de inflación anual de largo plazo del 3%, que continúa vigente en la actualidad. La menor inflación ha contribuido a crear un entorno macroeconómico más estable, que ha favorecido el crecimiento económico sostenido, la estabilidad financiera, el desarrollo del mercado de capitales y el funcionamiento de los sistemas de pagos. Gracias a ello se lograron reducciones en la prima por riesgo inflacionario y menores tasas de interés de los TES y de crédito. A su vez, la duración de la deuda interna pública aumentó de forma importante pasando de 2,27 años en diciembre de 2002 a 5,86 años en diciembre de 2022 y la profundización financiera, medida como el nivel de la cartera como porcentaje del PIB, pasó de cerca del 20% a mediados de la década de los noventa a valores superiores al 45% en años recientes, en un contexto saludable de los establecimientos de crédito. Los logros tangibles alcanzados por el Banco de la República en el manejo de la inflación al haber contado con la autonomía que le otorgó la Constitución para cumplir con el mandato de preservar el poder adquisitivo de la moneda, junto con los importantes beneficios que se derivaron del proceso de llevar la inflación a su meta de largo plazo, hacen que el reto que actualmente enfrenta la JDBR de retornar la inflación a la meta del 3% sea aún más exigente y apremiante. Como es bien conocido, a partir de 2021, y especialmente en 2022, la inflación en Colombia volvió a convertirse en un serio problema económico, con elevados costos de bienestar. El fenómeno inflacionario no ha sido exclusivo de Colombia y es así como muchos otros países desarrollados y emergentes han visto alejarse sus tasas de inflación de las metas propuestas por sus bancos centrales5. Las razones de este fenómeno se han analizado en los recientes Informes al Congreso, y en esta nueva entrega se profundiza al respecto con información actualizada. La sólida base institucional y técnica que soporta el esquema de inflación objetivo bajo el cual opera la estrategia de política monetaria le da a la JDBR los elementos necesarios para enfrentar con confianza este difícil reto. Al respecto, en su comunicado del 25 de noviembre la JDBR reiteró su compromiso con la meta de inflación del 3,0%, la cual prevé alcanzar hacia finales de 20246. La política monetaria continuará enfocada en cumplir este objetivo, al tiempo que velará por la sostenibilidad de la actividad económica, tal y como lo ordena la Constitución. Las encuestas a analistas llevadas a cabo en marzo mostraron un incremento importante (del 32,3% en enero al 48,5% en marzo) en el porcentaje de respuestas que sitúan las expectativas de inflación a dos años o más en un rango entre el 3% y 4%. Este es un indicativo claro de recuperación de credibilidad en la meta de inflación a mediano plazo, lo cual guarda coherencia con el anuncio de la JDBR de noviembre pasado. La moderación de la tendencia alcista de la inflación que se observó en enero, y especialmente en febrero, contribuirá a reforzar esta revisión de expectativas de inflación, y ayudará a cumplir los objetivos propuestos. Luego de registrarse una inflación del 5,6% a finales de 2021, la inflación mantuvo una tendencia alcista a lo largo de 2022 debido a las presiones inflacionarias tanto de origen externo, asociadas con las secuelas de la pandemia y las consecuencias del conflicto bélico en Ucrania, como de origen interno, resultantes de: el fortalecimiento de la demanda local; los procesos de indexación de precios estimulados por el aumento de las expectativas de inflación; las afectaciones a la producción de alimentos provocadas por el paro de mediados de 2021, y el traspaso de la depreciación a los precios. Los aumentos del salario mínimo del 10% en 2021 y del 16% en 2022, que en ambos casos superaron la inflación observada y el incremento de la productividad, acentuaron los procesos de indexación al haber establecido un elevado referente de ajuste nominal. De esta forma, la inflación total aumentó al 13,1% a finales 2022. La variación anual de alimentos, que subió del 17,2% al 27,8% entre esos dos años, fue el factor que más influyó en la aceleración del Índice de Precios al Consumidor (IPC). Otro rubro que contribuyó de manera importante a las alzas de precios fue el de regulados, cuya variación anual aumentó del 7,1% en diciembre de 2021 al 11,8% a finales de 2022. Por su parte, la medida de inflación básica sin alimentos ni regulados subió del 2,5% al 9,5% entre finales de 2021 y finales de 2022. El aumento sustancial de la inflación básica muestra que la presión inflacionaria se extendió a la mayoría de los rubros de la canasta familiar, lo cual es característico de procesos inflacionarios con una indexación de precios generalizada, como ocurre en Colombia. La política monetaria empezó a reaccionar tempranamente a estas presiones inflacionarias. Fue así como a partir de su sesión de septiembre de 2021 la JDBR inició un cambio progresivo de la postura de la política monetaria a partir del mínimo histórico del 1,75% de la tasa de interés de política al cual se había llegado para estimular la recuperación de la economía. Este proceso de ajuste prosiguió sin interrupción a lo largo de 2022 y hasta inicios de 2023, cuando la tasa de política monetaria alcanzó el 12,75% en enero pasado, con lo cual acumuló un incremento de 11 puntos porcentuales (pp). El público y los mercados se han mostrado sorprendidos de que la inflación continuara aumentando, a pesar de los significativos incrementos de la tasa de interés. Pero como lo ha explicado la JDBR en sus diversas comunicaciones, la política monetaria actúa con rezago. Así como en 2022 la actividad económica se recuperó hasta alcanzar un nivel superior al de prepandemia, impulsada, entre otros factores, por el estímulo monetario otorgado durante el período de pandemia y de los meses subsiguientes, así también los efectos de la actual política monetaria restrictiva se irán dando paulatinamente, lo que permite esperar que hacia finales de 2024 la tasa de inflación converja hacia el 3%, como es el propósito de la JDBR. Los resultados de la inflación en enero y febrero de este año mostraron incrementos marginales decrecientes (13 pb y 3 pb respectivamente), en comparación con la variación observada en diciembre (59 pb). Esto sugiere que se aproxima un punto de inflexión en la tendencia de la inflación. En otros países de América Latina, como Chile, Brasil, Perú y México, la inflación llegó a su techo y ha empezado a descender lentamente, aunque con algunos altibajos. Es previsible que en Colombia ocurra un proceso similar durante los próximos meses. El descenso previsto de la inflación en 2023 obedecerá, entre otros factores, a las menores presiones de costos externos por cuenta de la progresiva normalización de las cadenas de suministro, a la superación de los choques de oferta por razones de clima y por los bloqueos viales de años anteriores, lo que se reflejará en menores ajustes en los precios de los alimentos, como ya se observó en los primeros dos meses del año y, por supuesto, al efecto rezagado de la política monetaria. El proceso de convergencia de la inflación a la meta será gradual y se extenderá más allá de 2023. Dicho proceso se facilitará si se revierten las presiones a la devaluación, para lo cual resulta esencial que se continúe consolidando la sostenibilidad fiscal y se eviten mensajes en diferentes frentes de la política pública que generan incertidumbre y desconfianza. _______________________________________ 1 Este Informe al Congreso contiene el recuadro 1 que resume la trayectoria del Banco de la República en estos 100 años. Adicionalmente, con auspicio del Banco, varios libros que profundizan diversos aspectos de la historia de esta institución fueron publicados en años recientes. Véase, por ejemplo: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República : 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 Es por ello que una menor inflación se ha reflejado en la reducción de la desigualdad del ingreso medida a través del coeficiente de Gini al pasar de 58,7 en 1998 a 51,3 en el año previo a la pandemia. 3 Véase Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borrador de Economía, núm. 202, marzo, disponible en: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 Véase López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando y Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “La estrategia de inflación objetivo en Colombia. Una visión histórica”, Borrador de Economía, núm. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 Según el FMI, la variación porcentual de los precios al consumidor entre 2021 y 2022 pasó del 3,1 % al 7,3 % para las economías avanzadas, y del 5,9 % al 9,9 % para las economías de mercados emergentes y en vías de desarrollo. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3

8+fjordar-området är topografiskt väldigt varierande. Vattenutbytet är långsamt och tillförseln av näringsämnen stor. Största delen av näringsämnen stannar kvar i fjordarna. Mest i Havstens- och Hakefjordar där 40-50 % av den lokala näringstillförseln stannar kvar. Utsläppen från jordbruk och skogsbruk är stora i 8+fjordar-området. T.ex. står dessa för 62 % av kvävetillförseln och 69 % av fosfortillförseln till Byfjorden. Men utsläpp från punktkällor direkt till havet är också betydande (21 % av kvävetillförseln och 19 % av fosfortillförseln till Byfjorden). Man har genom en mängd olika tilltag de senaste decennierna försökt sänka utsläppen av kväve och fosfor och även om koncentrationerna av kväve och fosfor fortsatt är höga har halterna av främst kväve sjunkit i 8+fjordar-området. De stora utsläppen av näringsämnen ökar växtplanktonproduktionen och när denna sjunker till botten och bryts ner av bakterier orsakar det syrebrist och höga koncentrationer av giftigt svavelväte i de djupare delarna av fjordarna. I de grundare delarna av fjordsystemet finns grunda vikar med ålgräsängar, blåmusselbankar och klippkuster med tångskogar. Dessa biotoper har förändrats under de senaste decennierna med en ökande påväxt av fintrådiga alger. Den pelagiska miljön (de fria vattenmassorna) är främst påverkad av avrinning av sötvatten från älvar och åar och av inflöde av salthaltigt vatten från Skagerrak genom Marstrandsfjorden och norrut i fjordsystemet. Närsaltkoncentrationen är hög i hela vattenpelaren vilket ses speciellt för nitrat. Detta ger förhöjda klorofyllkoncentrationer även om dessa alltså har minskat betydligt under de senaste decennierna. 8+fjordar-området har länge haft höga koncentrationer av giftiga dinoflagellater, men de senaste decennierna har giftalgsblomningarna minskat betydligt. De flesta områden uppnår nu minst god ekologisk status avseende vinterkoncentrationer av totalt kväve med undantag för By-, Havstens-, Askerö- och Älgöfjordar. Status för växtplankton klassas som hög i nästan hela området. År 2006 kom den amerikanska kammaneten Mnemiopsis leidyi till svenska västkusten. Den är en effektiv predator på djurplankton och kan vissa år minska djurplanktonbiomassan avsevärt under hösten. Detta kan ha allvarliga konsekvenser för överlevnad av fisk och fisklarver som livnär sig på djurplankton. De allra flesta fiskarter livnär sig på djurplankton i larvstadiet. Den bentiska miljön innefattar livsmiljön från de djupa mjukbottnarna till tångskogarnas och ålgräsängarnas topp. 8+fjordar-områdets bentiska miljö kännetecknas av klippstränder med hårdbottnar beväxta med bland annat snärjtång, blåstång, sågtång, sockertång och fintrådiga alger, där blåmusslor och andra evertebrater lever och de djupare delarna täcks av fastsittande bentiska evertebrater som till exempel havsanemoner och havsnejlikor. De djupare sedimentbottnarna hyser grävande evertebrater som livnär sig på den biomassa som sjunker ner från pelagialen. Här dominerar havsborstmasken Scalibregma inflatum, slätbukig Sammanfattning trådormstjärna och pepparmussla. Vatten från Skagerrak strömmar in i 8+fjordarområdet söderifrån och de södra bassängerna inklusive Hake- och Askeröfjordar är normalt syresatta under hela året även i sina djupaste delar, medan de djupa delarna av de nordligare Kalvö-, Borgile-, Koljö- och Byfjordar samt även Havstensfjorden ofta präglas av långvarig syrebrist. I dessa områden försvinner bottenfaunan ofta helt eller befinner sig i någon fas av återkolonisering efter vattenutbyten. Den bentiska miljön hade bättre ekologisk status under 1980- och 90-talet än under det tidiga 2000-talet. De flesta åren därefter visar måttlig status i Hake-, Halse- och Havstensfjordar. I de grunda vikarna har mängden fintrådiga alger ökat betydligt sedan slutet på 1990-talet. Dessa alger bildar påväxt på ålgräs och tång och täta mattor av ruttnande alger på botten vilket försvagar ålgräs och tång och orsaker lokal syrebrist i ängarna. Dessa alger har ökat i biomassa delvis på grund av avsaknaden av betande evertebrater (t.ex. märlkräftor) som i sin tur har minskat i antal eftersom mesopredatorer som t.ex. strandkrabba och läppfiskar har ökat när deras predatorer, som t.ex. torsk, har fiskats bort. Utbredningen av ålgräs i 8+fjordar-området har minskat ganska dramatiskt de senaste decennier, speciellt kring Kungälv och Uddevalla där 80–85% av arean har försvunnit. Status för ålgräs och tång är otillfredsställande eller måttlig i nästan hela 8+fjordar-området. Fiskbestånden i 8+fjordar-området har varit överfiskade under lång tid och liksom i Västerhavets övriga kuststområden är förekomsten av större bottenlevande fisk, främst torskfiskar, mycket reducerad i 8+fjordar-området. Det fanns ett betydande fiske av torsk, näbbgädda, rödspotta, sill och skarpsill i området på 1960- talet men 2004–2008 hade de flesta fisken kollapsat med undantag av fisket på sill och skarpsill som fortfarande fiskas även on mängden landad sill har minskat betydligt från 2014 till 2021. Av alla fångster av sill och skarpsill fiskades i genomsnitt 14 % av sillen och 87 % av skarpsillen med lysfiske. SLU:s undersökningar visar dessvärre inte på någon återhämtning av fiskbestånden under de senaste 20 åren, trots att det riktade fisket efter flera av dessa arter stoppats och det införts ett fiskefritt område i Havstensfjorden. Genetiska studier visar dock att det fortfarande finns ett lokalt lekande bestånd av torsk i området och det har observerats bättre rekryteringar 2016 och 2019. Sportfisket efter havsöring är betydande, men störst är fisket efter makrill både med spö och med dörj. Det finns ingen officiell statistik på landningar men i Fiskeriverkets rapport från 1999 angavs att fritidsfiskets sammanlagda fångster översteg yrkesfiskets för lax och havsöring och vissa arter av plattfisk. Det finns en del vattenbruk i 8+fjordar-området. Företaget Scanfjord är störst, med blåmusselodlingar i yttre Stigfjorden, Havstensfjorden och Koljöfjorden. En rad andra aktörer har odlingar främst i norra delen av 8+fjordar-området och företaget Marine Taste odlar sjöpungar nära Stenungsund. Sjöfåglar är viktiga länkar mellan näringsvävar i havet och på land och de kan vara bra indikatorer på förändringar i de marina ekosystemen. Efter mitten av 1990- talet har ejderpopulationen minskat till hälften och arten är numera (2020) rödlistad som ”starkt hotad” (EN) i både Sverige och Europa. Strandskatan har minskat med omkring 40 % i Sverige de senaste 30 åren och är sedan 2020 rödlistad som "nära hotad" (NT). Troliga faktorer för dessa två arters minskning är minskad mängd och/eller kvalitet, inklusive vitaminbrist, på bytesdjur, ökad utbredning av syrefria bottnar, klimatförändringar, predation och sjukdom. Stora förändringar har också ägt rum hos många måsfågelbestånd de senaste 20–30 åren. Fisktärna och silltrut (på västkusten) har klarat sig bra, medan övriga måsfåglar minskat så kraftigt att de blivit rödlistade. Bestånden av grågås, kanadagås och vitkindad gås har ökat kraftigt de senaste 30 åren. Tillgången på höst- och vintergröna grödor har ökat genom ändrat jordbruk och varmare och snöfattigare vintrar vilket har gynnat gässen. Storskarven var tidigare utdöd i Sverige men under 1980- och 1990-talet spred sig skarven längs den svenska kusten och i 8+fjordar-området etablerades de första kolonier i början av 2000-talet. Det finns ingen regelbunden inventering av storskarv i Sverige men år 2021 räknades 1300 bon i 7 kolonier från Nordre Älvs mynning i söder till Havstensfjord i norr, absoluta majoriteten väster om OrustTjörn. I 8+fjordar-området är storskarvens vanligaste byten smörbult och plattfisk, men även andelen torskfisk och sötvattensfisk är betydande. Knubbsäl, gråsäl och tumlare förekommer i 8+fjordar-området. Knubbsäl och tumlare är de överlägset vanligaste marina däggdjuren medan antalet gråsälar är betydligt färre. Efter att jakten förbjöds och sälarna skyddades, samtidigt som mängden miljögifter minskade, började sälpopulationen längs västkusten återhämta sig under 1980-talet. Knubbsälpopulationen har ökat sedan dess även om virussjukdom (Phocine Distemper Virus, PDV) reducerade antalet betydligt år 1988 och 2002. Under 2010-talets senare hälft uppskattades antalet knubbsälar i Västerhavet till över 20 000 djur. I 8+fjordar-området vistas de flesta sälar på utsidan Orust och Tjörn med mycket färre sälar i själva 8+fjordar-området. Prover insamlade 2015-2016 visade att knubbsälens födoval är helt dominerat av plattfisk (viktandel >70 %) följt av sill, rötsimpa och vitling. Miljögifter finns i stora koncentrationer i vissa delar av 8+fjordar-området, främst i Byfjorden där föroreningar från hamnen länge har varit stora och kring Stenungsund där utsläpp från den kemiska industrin dominerar. Men inom 8+fjordar-området finns även ett stort antal mindre båtvarv och marinor som genom åren har bidragit till giftiga utsläpp främst från båtbottenfärg. I Byfjorden har bottensedimenten höga eller mycket höga koncentrationer av olja, polycykliska aromatiska kolväten (PAH) och PCB. Där är koncentrationerna av TBT, som tidigare användes i båtbottenfärg, och dess två nerbrytningsprodukter DBT och MBT mycket höga. Flera metaller så som zink, kadmium, koppar och nickel finns också i höga koncentrationer. Kvicksilver- och PBDE-halten i blåmusslor överskrider Vattendirektivets gränsvärde för fisk. Dessa föroreningar finns också i Havstensfjorden och Halsefjorden men i lägre koncentrationer. Kring Stenungsund är bottensedimentens halter av hexaklorbensen (HCB) höga eller mycket höga men det avspeglas dock inte i förhöjda HCB-halter i blåmusslor från samma område. Halterna av DBT och MBT är också höga här, medan halterna av TBT inte är förhöjda. Kopparhalten i sediment från Stenungsundsområdet är förhöjda och på en lokal är de långt över Vattendirektivets gränsvärde. Även koncentrationen av PBDE i blåmussla överstiger vattendirektivets gränsvärde. Blåstång från en lokal vid nordvästra Stenungsön har höga eller mycket höga koncentrationer av kadmium, arsenik och koppar. I syrefria bottnar förekommer ingen omblandning av sedimentet av infauna såsom havsborstmaskar vilket gör att lagrade ämnen inte i så hög utsträckning frigörs till vattnet och miljögifter koncentreras som mest i dessa områden. Nedbrytningshastigheten av organiska miljögifter är också betydligt långsammare i en syrefattig miljö än i en syrerik och det kan ta många decennier att bryta ned gifterna. Om syrefria bottnar innehållande miljögifter åter syresätts och omblandningen sätts igång, är det därför risk för kontaminering av kringliggande vatten. Mikroplast som härstammar från den lokala plastindustrin finns i större mängder i bottensedimenten kring Stenungsund. En studie visade att minst 3 miljoner och i värsta fall 36 miljoner polyetylenpellets större än 2 mm, motsvarande 73–730 kg, släpps ut via Stenunge å årligen. När mindre fraktioner ner till 300 µm inkluderades i mätningarna var det totala partikelantalet hundrafaldigt högre. Dessa partiklar har direkt effekt på djur och växter i fjorden. Elfiskeundersökningar visade att 62 % av öring fångade i Stenunge å hade plastpartiklar i magen. Flera invasiva arter har etablerat sig i 8+fjordar-området de senaste decennierna. Den amerikanska kammaneten Mnemiopsis leidyi finns i stora mängder sensommar och höst under de flesta år. Under år med dessa maneter kan de äta upp största delen av djurplanktonbiomassan vilket skapar problem för fisklarver som livnär sig på detta plankton. Stillahavsostronet eller det japanska jätteostronet har observerats på stränder i hela 8+fjordar-området. Dessa ostron kan tränga undan blåmussla när det bildas stora ostronbankar och de europeiska ostronen kan smittas av nya typer av parasiter. Ostronens skal är också vassa och kan orsaka skador på människor som går på bottnen i grunda områden. Mellan 20 och 40 % av 8+fjordar-områdets kustlinje är bebyggd inom 100 meters avstånd till vattenlinjen. I Kungälv och på Tjörn och Orust har bebyggd kustlinje fördubblats på bara 10 år trots förbud mot uppförande av nya byggnader närmre än 100 meter från strandlinjen enligt strandskyddslagstiftningen. 20–25 % av kusten i dessa kommuner är nu bebyggd. Friluftslivet till sjöss har också ökat kraftigt under senare år. Intervjuundersökningar visar att det under 2004 uppskattningsvis fanns totalt 26 600 båtar på svenska västkusten men att antalet har fyrdubblats fram till 2010. Denna ökning av mänsklig närvaro stör på många olika sätt. Pirar eller bryggor kan störa djurs naturliga migrationsrutter längs kusten, speciellt i topografiskt komplexa områden som 8+fjordar-området och större strukturer som t.ex. brofästen eller bortsprängningar och utgrävningar kan ändra vattengenomströmningen. I 8+fjordar-området kan det ha extra stor effekt eftersom vattenutbytet är naturligt långsamt. Fåglar störs kraftigt av snabbgående båtar. Många fåglar undviker ofta platser med mycket trafik under ruggningen och på rastoch övervintringslokaler kan störningar från båtar leda till att de oftare tar till flykt med energiförluster som följd. Marint skräp är ett särskilt stort problem i Bohuslän där stora mängder makroskräp driver i land på grund av havsströmmarna (Jutska strömmen). Detta är faktiskt ett av Europas mest nedskräpade marina områden. 96 % av det marina skräpet längs stränderna i Bohuslän utgörs av plastartiklar, och det vanligaste är snören och linor som till allra största del kommer från fisket. Effekter av skräp på det marina djurlivet är väldokumenterade, t ex insnärjning av marina djur och intag av skräpföremål av fåglar, fiskar och evertebrater. Förlorade tinor, garn och ryssjor utgör också en betydande del av skräpet. Efter intervjuundersökningar uppskattades antalet förlorade hummertinor till 3900 per år på västkusten bara från fritidsfisket. Förlorade fiskredskap fiskar vidare och studier har visat att så mycket som 163 800 humrar och krabbtaskor fångas per år på västkusten i detta spökfiske. Klimatförändringarna leder till att haven runt Sverige blir allt varmare, att kustnära vatten utsötas när nederbörden ändras och att haven försuras när ökade mängder koldioxid tas upp i havet. Varmare vatten tar upp mer plats så havsnivån stiger med stigande temperatur och detta förvärras när polernas fastlandsisar smälter. I 8+fjordar-området ökar ytvattentemperaturen fyra gångar så snabbt som den globala medeluppvärmningen och enligt SMHI har temperaturen ökat med 3,5 °C sedan 1960. Salthalt och skiktning förändras i kustnära miljöer när nederbörden varierar. I svenska kustnära marina miljöer har saliniteten minskat under perioden från 1992, då mätningarna började, fram till ca 2010, men under de senare åren har den ökat så mycket att den nu är tillbaka på samma nivå som 1990. En tredjedel av den koldioxid som släpps ut absorberas av världens hav där den bildar kolsyra. Under industrialiseringen har det globala medel-pH minskat från cirka 8,11 till 8,06, en minskning som motsvarar en ökning i surhet med 30 %. Det finns ingen marin övervakning av pH i 8+fjordar-området men data från danska fjordar visar en försurning som är dubbel så snabb som globala medelvärdet. Av alla belastningar relaterade till klimatförändringarna är det temperaturökningen som har störst effekt på djur och växter i havet. Först och främst förflyttas utbredningsområden för djur och växter mot norr. Torsken i Skagerrak/Kattegatt föredrar temperaturer som är låga jämfört med de medeltemperaturer de upplever i området i dag och den temperaturökningen vi ser i 8+fjordar-området minskar därför torskens lekmöjlighet i området. Ålgräs påverkas också av ökande temperaturer och studier visar att en 5 °C ökning minskar ålgräsets skottäthet. Havsförsurning påverkar främst bottnens kalcifierande arter som kräftdjur, blötdjur och tagghudingar. Till exempel har det visat sig att sjöborrelarvers utveckling försämras av även mycket små minskningar i pH och bottensamhällen påverkas så att både artrikedom och antal individer minskar under försurning.