Development of combined plant of biogas and bio solid-refuse-fuel from swine manure slurry

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - An environment-friendly treatment of organic waste like swine manure and food waste is considered to be big challenge, because the residue of...     

An experimental investigation of resilience decision making in repeated disasters

Environment Systems and Decisions - Given the growing prevalence of catastrophic events and health epidemics, policymakers are increasingly searching for effective strategies to encourage firms to...     

A framework for evaluating the impact of the IUCN Red List of threatened species

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, a species extinction risk assessment tool, has been guiding conservation efforts for over 5 decades. It is widely assumed to have been instrumental in preventing species from moving closer to extinction and driving recoveries. However, the impact of the IUCN Red List in guiding conservation has not been evaluated. We conducted, transcribed, and coded interviews with experts who use the IUCN Red List across a range of sectors to understand how the list is used in conservation. We developed a theory of change to illustrate how and why change is expected to occur along causal pathways contributing to the long-term goal of the IUCN Red List and an evaluation framework with indicators for measuring the impact of the IUCN Red List in generating scientific knowledge, raising awareness among stakeholders, designating priority conservation sites, allocating funding and resources, influencing development of legislation and policy, and guiding targeted conservation action (key themes). Red-list assessments were the primary input leading to outputs (scientific knowledge, raised awareness), outcomes (better informed priority setting, access to funding and resource availability, improved legislation and policy), and impact (implemented conservation action leading to positive change) that have resulted in achievement of IUCN Red List goals. To explore feasibility of attributing the difference made by the IUCN Red List across themes, we studied increased scientific knowledge, raised awareness, access to funding and resource allocation, and increased conservation activity. The feasibility exploration showed increased scientific knowledge over time identified through positive trends in publications referring to the IUCN Red List in the literature; raised awareness of the list following high IUCN activity identified by peaks in online search activity; an increased proportion of conservation funding bodies requesting IUCN Red List status in the application process; and, based on interviews with Amphibian Specialist Group members, red-list assessments were essential in connecting relevant stakeholders and ensuring conservation action. Although we identified the IUCN Red List as a vital tool in global conservation efforts, it was challenging to measure specific impacts because of its ubiquitous nature. We are the first to identify the influence of the IUCN Red List on conservation.     

Impacts of industrial waste resources on maize (Zea mays L.) growth,yield, nutrients uptake and soil properties

Discharging untreated highly acidic (pH < 4.0), organic and nutrients rich monosodium glutamate wastewater (MW), and highly alkaline (pH > 10.0) paper-mill wastewater (PW) causes environmental pollution. When acidity of MW neutralized (pH 6.5 ± 0.1) with PW and lime (treatments represented as MW + PW and MW + Lime), then MW may be utilized as a potential source of nutrients and organic carbon for sustainable food production. Objectives of this study were to compare the effects of PW and lime neutralized MW and chemical fertilizers on maize (Zea mays L. cv. Snow Jean) plant growth, yield, nutrients uptake, soil organic matter and humic substances. The field experiment was carried out on maize using MW at 6000 L ha^?1. Impacts of the MW application on maize crop and soil properties were evaluated at different stages. At harvest, plant height, and plant N and K uptake were higher in MW treatment. Leaf area index at 60 days after sowing, plant dry matter accumulation at harvest, and kernels ear^?1 and 100-kernel weight were higher in MW + Lime treatment. Kernel N, P, K, Mn, Fe and Zn, and plant Zn uptake were highest in MW + Lime. Plant Fe uptake, and soil organic matter and humic substances were highest in MW + PW. The MW + PW and MW + Lime treatments exhibited comparable results with chemically fertilized treatment. The MW acidity neutralized with lime showed positive impacts on growth, yield and nutrients uptake; nevertheless, when MW pH neutralized with PW has an additional benefit on increase in soil organic matter and humic substances.     

A comparative approach to assess drivers of success in mammalian conservation recovery programs

The outcomes of species recovery programs have been mixed; high‐profile population recoveries contrast with species‐level extinctions. Each conservation intervention has its own challenges, but to inform more effective management it is imperative to assess whether correlates of wider recovery program success or failure can be identified. To contribute to evidence‐based improvement of future conservation strategies, we conducted a global quantitative analysis of 48 mammalian recovery programs. We reviewed available scientific literature and conducted semistructured interviews with conservation professionals involved in different recovery programs to investigate ecological, management, and political factors associated with population recoveries or declines. Identifying and removing threats was significantly associated with increasing population trend and decreasing conservation dependence, emphasizing that populations are likely to continue to be compromised in the absence of effective threat mitigation and supporting the need for threat monitoring and adaptive management in response to new and potential threats. Lack of habitat and small population size were cited as limiting factors in 56% and 42% of recovery programs, respectively, and both were statistically associated with increased longer term dependence on conservation intervention, demonstrating the importance of increasing population numbers quickly and restoring and protecting habitat. Poor stakeholder coordination and management were also regularly cited by respondents as key weaknesses in recovery programs, indicating the importance of effective leadership and shared goals and management plans. Project outcomes were not influenced by biological or ecological variables such as body mass or habitat, which suggests that these insights into correlates of conservation success and failure are likely to be generalizable across mammals.     

Fetal presentation of morquio disease type A

A fetus with mucopolysaccharidosis type IV A (Morquio type A) is described. The family had one affected child exhibiting symptoms of classical Morquio A disease, and late in the subsequent pregnancy prenatal diagnosis was requested. At 23 weeks' gestation, moderate ascites was detected by detailed ultrasound scan and keratan sulphate was found in the amniotic fluid. The pregnancy was terminated by prostaglandin induction and the diagnosis of mucopolysaccharidosis type IV A was confirmed by demonstration of a deficiency of N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulphate (GalNac-6-S) sulphatase in cultured amniotic cells and in post-mortem fibroblast cultures. The activities of β-galactosidase and arylsulphatase A were normal, ruling out Morquio disease type B and multiple sulphatase deficiency. These results indicate that mucopolysaccharidosis IV A (a disease that predominantly affects the skeletal system) may produce ascites in the fetus to such an extent that it can be detected by ultrasound.     

Physiological response of the cold-seep mussel Bathymodiolus childressi to acutely elevated temperature

It is predicted that deep-sea animals adapted to thermally stable conditions should be highly sensitive to temperature change and should not have inducible heat-shock responses. This premise was tested with the cold-seep mussel Bathymodiolus childressi Gustafson, 1998 from 750 m depth in the Gulf of Mexico at a site known as Brine Pool NR-1 (27°43.4157N, 91°16.756W). Mussels were collected during February 2003. Site temperature, measured in different months between 1995 and 2005, ranged between 6.5 and 7.2°C. Although Brine Pool NR-1 is stenothermal, hydrogen sulfide, oxygen, and salinity vary over temporal and spatial scales. In laboratory experiments, B. childressi survived increases up to approximately 20°C above ambient temperature for 6 h before suffering greater than 50% mortality. Although a high thermal tolerance was observed, B. childressi did not express an inducible 70 kDa heat-shock protein. However, high constitutive levels of hsp70 were present in B. childressi suggesting a necessity to remediate protein damage from stressors other than elevated temperature; these constitutive proteins probably confer an indirect thermal tolerance.     

Life on a hot dry beach: behavioural,physiological, and ultrastructural adaptations of the littorinid gastropod <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cenchritis</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tectarius</Emphasis>) <Emphasis Type="Italic">muricatus</Emphasis>

The distribution and abundance of the littorinid gastropod Cenchritis (Tectarius) muricatus were determined on an exposed shore at Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas in July/August 1995 and June 1999. Activity patterns were observed on two occasions shortly before a hurricane passed near the island in 1995. C. muricatus extended from the low water mark to 3.6 m vertical height above it. Highest densities (20/m²) were found just above the high tide mark but the animal remained relatively abundant (8/m²) at the highest point. Small animals were only found at high shore levels. With the exception of animals very near to the water's edge C. muricatus was inactive by day and on dry nights. Many individuals of the high shore populations became active at night during periods of high humidity and rainfall, moving distances of up to 4 m overnight. At lower levels, extensive pairing and copulation was associated with these periods of rainfall. Abundance changed dramatically after the passage of the hurricane. At the level of maximum abundance numbers were reduced from 20/m² to 2.8/m². Long-term experimental studies of water loss rate and haemolymph concentration showed that both water loss rate and increase in haemolymph concentration are greatest in the early period of desiccation. The concentration of the blood after 20 weeks is 250% of the original and the water lost is of the order of 22.5%. After an initial increase there appears to be evidence of regulation of haemolymph concentration possibly by exchange with free water in the shell itself. The considerable reserve capacity in tolerance is no doubt in part due to the structure and functioning of the kidney. Adaptive features of the excretory system identified from ultrastructural examination include the replacement of podocyte-containing filtration chambers in the auricle by extracellular tubules permeating the walls of both auricle and ventricle, which suggests a reduction in the rate of primary urine formation. This is also indicated by a reduced surface area of the nephridial gland, which resorbs organic solutes from the urine. Excretory cells contain single large vacuoles in which arise large multi-layered concretions composed of phospholipids and calcium salts typical of prosobranchs in which excretory products may be stored for long periods.     

Soil landscape constraint mapping for coastal land use planning using geographic information system

The aim of the study was to delineate soil landscape constraints to various land uses for urban and regional planning in the coastal areas of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Soil landscape units mapped at 1:100,000 or coarser were sub-divided into component facets using advanced terrain modelling techniques in a geographic information system (GIS). The output facet grids were further overlain and linked with relevant GIS layers and soil databases to derive soil landscape constraint ratings for various land use purposes such as residential development, cropping and grazing. The constraint ratings for a specific land use were calculated based on objective and rule-based assessments of soil and landscape features such as engineering hazards, intrinsic fertility, drainage and other parameters. A series of soil landscape constraint maps which portray specific land use capability have been produced for the NSW coast. The methodology developed in this study has been demonstrated to be efficient in delineating soil landscape constraints and there is over 90% agreement between the model outputs and the assessment by soil surveyors with local knowledge. The output maps show levels of unprecedented detail of soil and landscape constraint for the coast of NSW and can be readily interpreted by land use planners and land managers for sustainable land use decision making practices.