Ongoing changes in Earth's climate are shifting the elevation ranges of many plant species with non-native species often experiencing greater expansion into higher elevations than native species. These climate change-induced shifts in distributions inevitably expose plants to novel biotic and abiotic environments, including altered solar ultraviolet (UV)-B (280-315 nm) radiation regimes. Do the...

Archaeological indicators of cognitively modern behaviour become increasingly prevalent during the African Middle Stone Age (MSA). Although the exploitation of ochre is viewed as a key feature of the emergence of modern human behaviour, the uses to which ochre and ochre-based mixtures were put remain ambiguous. Here we present the results of an experimental study exploring the efficacy of ochre...

Acquired melanocytic naevi (MN) are considered a risk factor for melanoma. Exposure to ultraviolet light (UV) is the major environmental factor for MN. UV protection is most critical in pre-school children. This 3-year interventional longitudinal study examined 395 3-year-old children attending daycare centres (DCC) in Dresden, Germany. Photo-skin type, eye and hair colour were recorded. DCC we...

Organisms living in clear, shallow water are exposed to the damaging wavelengths of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) coincident with the longer wavelengths of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) also necessary for vision. With the general exception of bacteria, taxonomically diverse marine and freshwater organisms have evolved the capacity to synthesize or accumulate UV-absorbing myco...

Magazines focused on parenting are popular in the United States, and parents may use them to guide decisions about the health of their children. We analyzed issues of 2 popular parenting magazines published in the past 11 years during the months of peak ultraviolet radiation exposure for content related to sun protection and for advertisements for skin products that did and did not contain sun ...

background bacillus thuringiensis is the most successful biological control agent used in agriculture, forestry and mosquito control. however, the insecticidal activity of the b. thuringiensis formulation is not very stable and rapidly loses its biological activity under field conditions, due to the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. melanin is known to absorb radiation therefore photo protecti...

Nanoscale ZnO is one of the best choices for ultraviolet (UV) protection, not only because of its antimicrobial properties but also due to its potential application for UV preservation. However, the behavior of nanostructured thin ZnO films and long-term effects of UV-radiation exposure have not been studied yet. In this study, we investigated the UV-protection ability of sol gel-derived thin Z...

There is an increasing number of applications for UV and visible radiation in medical therapy and diagnosis, and in areas related to cosmetology. All these applications pose risks of unwanted exposure of the staff executing the treatment and the patients. A new survey in Norwegian hospitals accounting for the status of radiation protection in phototherapy will be presented. The survey concludes...

cutaneous malignancy is complex. Current models suggest, however, that ozone depletion may cause a more rapid increase in melanoma than in non-melanoma skin cancer.10 This is because short episodes of intense and burning ultraviolet exposure are linked to melanoma, whereas nonmelanoma skin cancer is associated with the lifetime build up of exposure to ultraviolet. To quantify changes in inciden...