Nature Experience, Recreation Activity and Health Benefits of Visitors in Mountain and Urban Forests in Vienna, Zurich and Freiburg

Mountain forests are managed for various purposes. Of these, recreation, leisure, and ecotourism are increasingly gaining prominence. Yet, with the development of new techniques for creating and managing urban forests, the perception of the public with regard to mountain forests and such urban forests is narrowing. For the purpose of this study, eight mountain forests and urban forests located in Zurich(Switzerland), Vienna(Austria) and Freiburg(Germany) were shortlisted. These places are renowned for their well-functioning management of mountain forests and creation of urban forests. As the study was to focus on the comparison of the perceptions of visitors in terms of their satisfaction in urban and mountain forests, the interview covered the following questions:(i) how satisfactory was the nature experience;(ii) how satisfactory were the outdoor recreational activities;(iii) whether the nature experiences influenced the mental and physical health of visitors. Responses thus received for each of the mountain forests and urban forests were assessed, with the total number of respondents being 247. Tourists visiting the selected areas were randomly chosen for a one-on-one interview survey. Results of the survey show that there is a clear perceptions of visitors differed between urban and mountain forests. However, the gap is insignificant or almost nonexistent with respect to satisfaction level of outdoor recreational activities and health benefits. These results are contrary to the findings of previous studies, which argued that the natural landscape of mountain areas is superior to other artificially built green spaces. Visitors did not perceive significant differences in outdoor recreational activities and health effects between the two spaces.

Seasonal variation in surface ozone and its regional characteristics at global atmosphere watch stations in China

We investigated the seasonal and spatial ozone variations in China by using three-year surface ozone observation data from the six Chinese Global Atmosphere Watch(GAW)stations and tropospheric column ozone data from satellite retrieval over the period2010–2012. It is shown that the seasonal ozone variations at these GAW stations are rather different, particularly between the western and eastern locations. Compared with western China, eastern China has lower background ozone levels. However, the Asian summer monsoon(ASM) can transport photochemical pollutants from the southern to the northern areas in eastern China, leading to a northward gradual enhancement of background ozone levels at the eastern GAW stations. Over China, the tropospheric column ozone densities peak during spring and summer in the areas that are directly and/or indirectly affected by the ASM, and the peak time lags from the south to the north in eastern China. We also investigated the regional representativeness of seasonal variations of ozone at the six Chinese GAW stations using the yearly maximum tropospheric column month as indicator.The results show that the seasonal variation characteristics of ozone revealed by the Chinese GAW stations are typical, with each station having a considerable large surrounding area with the ozone maximum occurring at the same month. Ozone variations at the GAW stations are influenced by many complex factors and their regional representativeness needs to be investigated further in a broader sense.

Anti-Predator Coloration and Behaviour： A Longstanding Topic with Many Outstanding Questions

1 Introduction The study of anti-predator coloration and behaviour has a long and rich history in biology. It has from the very outset of Darwin＇s theory of natural selection provided numerous areas to test mechanisms and function in evolution. While Darwin perhaps concentrated most of his attention regarding animal coloration on his theory of sexual selection （Darwin, 1871）, his contem- poraries placed much greater emphasis and time to explain the variety of ways that coloration and behaviour protected animals from attack from predators.

Curcumin protects against staurosporine toxicity in rat neurons

Objective Curcumin is extracted from the turmeric plant （Curcuma longa Linn.） and is widely used as a food additive and traditional medicine. The present study investigated the activity of curcumin against staurosporine （STS） toxicity in cell culture. Methods Rat hippocampal neurons in primary culture were exposed to STS （20 μmol/L） and treated with curcumin （20 μmol/L）. Cell viability was tested by MTT assay and reactive oxygen species （ROS） were measured using the MitoSOX red mitochondrial superoxide indicator. Western blot was used to assess changes in the levels of caspase-3 （Csp3）, heat shock protein 70 （Hsp70） and Akt. Results The results showed that curcumin protects against STS-induced cytotoxicity in rat hippocampal neurons. Csp3, Hsp70, Akt and ROS activation may be involved in this protection. Conclusion Curcumin could be a potential drug for combination with STS in cancer treatment to reduce the unwanted cytotoxicity of STS.