During the period 1998–2000, the Mediterranean Forecasting System Pilot Project, aiming to build a forecasting system for the physical state of the sea, has been carried out. A ship-of-opportunity programme sampled the Mediterranean upper ocean thermal structure by means of eXpendable Bathy-Thermographs (XBTs), along seven tracks, from September 1999 to May 2000. The tracks were designed to det...

RATIONALE The relationship between stocks of fin whales inhabiting the temperate eastern North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea is subject to controversy. The use of chemical markers facilitates an alternative insight into population structure and potential borders between stocks because the two areas present dissimilar isotopic baselines. METHODS Baleen plates, composed of inert tissue tha...

background: the global burden of conduct disorder is a major public health concern. although there are different reports on the prevalence of conduct disorder in different middle eastern countries, to date, no research has reviewed them. therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the literature and present the prevalence of conduct disorder among children and adoles...

Executive summary The aim of this technical paper is to assist the Member States in acquiring a perspective of health system priorities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, identify the current challenges and carve out appropriate strategies. A fundamental theme that underlies health system priority-setting in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is the primary health care approach and the reiterat...

Abstract The spawning grounds of the Atlantic bluefin tuna ( Thunnus thynnus ) are traditionally considered to be Gulf Mexico (Gulf Mexico) and Mediterranean Sea (Mediterranean Sea). However, for western Atlantic, unequivocal evidence outside has been shown. In this study we present first records genetically confirmed larvae in southern Bay Biscay (eastern Atlantic). These findings provide acti...

BACKGROUND Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in HIV negative patients is rare and has to be distinguished from AIDS associated KS. Two groups are at risk to develop non-AIDS related KS: elderly men mainly of Mediterranean origin and persons with iatrogenic immunosuppression. PATIENTS AND METHODS In order to define risk-groups and major clinical features we retrospectively evaluated clinical data of all p...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In the last decades, the geographical location of the centre of origin of Quercus suber (cork oak), a strictly western Mediterranean oak species, has been the subject of controversy. METHODS RFLP variation over the whole chloroplast DNA molecule and PCR-RFLPs over seven specific cpDNA fragments were analysed phylogeographically to reconstruct the evolutionary history of co...

Morphometric, allozymic, and mitochondrial DNA variability previously indicated that the Mediterranean anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus includes two distinct forms, one of the inshore habitat, and the other one of the open-sea habitat. Here, we showed that the two forms significantly differ by several morphological characters. To test the hypothesis, proposed previously, that the two forms are di...

Thirty microsatellite markers were analysed in 1426 goats from 45 traditional or rare breeds in 15 European and Middle Eastern countries. In all populations inbreeding was indicated by heterozygosity deficiency (mean FIS = 0.10). Genetic differentiation between breeds was moderate with a mean FST value of 0.07, but for most (c. 71%) northern and central European breeds, individuals could be ass...

The paper provides a basin-scale assessment of the spatiotemporal distribution of alkalinity in the Mediterranean Sea. The assessment is made by integrating the available observations into a 3-D transport–biogeochemical model. The results indicate the presence of complex spatial patterns: a marked west-to-east surface gradient of alkalinity is coupled to secondary negative gradients: (1) from m...