Sympatry in grapsoid crabs (genera <Emphasis Type="Italic">Planes</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plagusia</Emphasis>) from olive ridley sea turtles (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lepidochelys olivacea</Emphasis>), with descriptions of crab diets and masticatory structures

Grapsoid crabs of the genera Planes and Plagusia are commonly referred to as “rafting crabs” due to their propensity to live on flotsam and pelagic marine animals. Planes minutus and Planes major (=Planes cyaneus) are epibionts of sea turtles. Occurrences of grapsoid crabs in the genera Planes and Plagusia were evaluated on a total of 27 olive ridley sea turtles, Lepidochelys olivacea, from the eastern tropic Pacific (1998–2001) and the Hawaiian Islands (2002) captured in July–December each year. This is the first report of Planes marinus and Plagusia squamosa on sea turtles, and of P. major, P. marinus, and P. squamosa in sympatry on a confined substrate. Stomach content analyses showed P. major and P. marinus consumed a variety of neuston and marine vegetation, with the former consuming considerably more animal material. Epibiotic P. squamosa consumed mostly plant material. The three Planes species had distinctive differences in gastric mill tooth morphology. The versatile mouthparts of P. marinus are described and resemble those of their congeners. Most female P. major and P. marinus collected were ovigerous and present in all survey months.     

PGD for monogenic disorders: aspects of molecular biology

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for monogenic diseases has known a considerable evolution since its first application in the early 1990s. Especially the technical aspects of the genetic diagnosis itself, the single-cell genetic analysis, has constantly evolved to reach levels of accuracy and efficiency nearing those of genetic diagnosis on regular DNA samples. In this review, we will focus on the molecular biological techniques that are currently in use in the most advanced centers for PGD for monogenic disorders, including multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and post-PCR diagnostic methods, whole genome amplification (WGA) and multiple displacement amplification (MDA). As it becomes more and more clear that when it comes to ethically difficult indications, PGD goes further than prenatal diagnosis (PND), we will also briefly discuss ethical issues. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design for Sustainability (DfS): the interface of sustainable production and consumption

Nowadays design is faced with the challenge to contribute to the transition towards a sustainable society. Design for Sustainability (DfS) is the response to this challenge. It includes but goes beyond what Design for the Environment or ecodesign provides, by integrating social, economic, environmental and institutional aspects and by offering opportunities to get involved, express one’s own identity beyond consuming standardised mass products.DEEDS, a Leonardo research project, had the mission to embed sustainability in design and design in sustainability. For this behalf, the project partners approached the issue from the angles of design, sustainability science and sustainable consumption analysis, developing tools and rules (the SCALES principles) to support DfS and to incorporate it into design education and practice.The paper describes the framework conditions as explored by sustainable consumption research, the obstacles identified by DEEDS and gives hints how to overcome them based in the lessons learnt in the course of the project.     

Do children play fair with mother nature? Understanding children’s judgments of environmentally harmful actions

The current study asks how young children judge behaviors that harm the environment as compared to moral transgressions, social-conventional transgressions, and personal choices. This study also questions whether children are more likely to cite biocentric or homocentric reasons when justifying their judgments of environmentally harmful behaviors. To answer these questions, sixty-one 6–10 year olds were asked to judge the severity of various actions that impact the environment. For comparison, participants also judged moral transgressions, social-conventional transgressions, and personal choices. Children judged actions that harm the environment more severely than social-conventional transgressions but not as severely as moral transgressions. When justifying their judgments of these environmentally harmful behaviors, participants were more likely to reference biocentric reasons as compared to homocentric reasons. The findings suggest that children perceive harm to the environment as bad, but harm to humans as worse.     

Polymodal foraging in adult female loggerheads (Caretta caretta)

To determine whether loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting in southeastern USA exhibit polymorphic foraging strategies, we evaluated skin samples for stable isotopes of carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) from 310 loggerheads from four locations on the east coast of Florida and epibionts from 48 loggerheads. We found a dichotomy between a depleted δ¹³C cluster and an enriched δ¹³C cluster. Epibionts from oceanic/pelagic or neritic/benthic habitats were largely consistent with this dichotomy. The bimodal distribution of δ¹³C could reflect a bimodal foraging strategy or—because of the potential for confounding among four gradients of δ¹³C in marine environments—a polymodal foraging strategy. We integrate our results with results from other stable isotope studies, satellite telemetry, and flipper tags to evaluate potential foraging strategies. Understanding foraging strategies is essential for development of management plans for this endangered species that has suffered a 43% population decline over the last decade.     

Sources of fine particles in the South Coast area,California

PM_2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter) speciation data collected between 2003 and 2005 at two United State Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Speciation Trends Network monitoring sites in the South Coast area, California were analyzed to identify major PM_2.5 sources as a part of the State Implementation Plan development. Eight and nine major PM_2.5 sources were identified in LA and Rubidoux, respectively, through PMF2 analyses. Similar to a previous study analyzing earlier data (Kim and Hopke, 2007a), secondary particles contributed the most to the PM_2.5 concentrations: 53% in LA and 59% in Rubidoux. The next highest contributors were diesel emissions (11%) in LA and Gasoline vehicle emissions (10%) in Rubidoux. Most of the source contributions were lower than those from the earlier study. However, the average source contributions from airborne soil, sea salt, and aged sea salt in LA and biomass smoke in Rubidoux increased.To validate the apportioned sources in this study, PMF2 results were compared with those obtained from EPA PMF (US EPA, 2005). Both models identified the same number of major sources and the resolved source profiles and contributions were similar at the two monitoring sites. The minor differences in the results caused by the differences in the least square algorithm and non-negativity constraints between two models did not affect the source identifications.     

Ambient Air Analyses Using Nonspecific Flame lonization and Electron Capture Detection Compared to Specific Detection by Mass Spectroscopy

Ambient air samples from various studies were analyzed for a specific set of trace-level volatile organic compounds by using a gas chromatograph (GC) equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID) in parallel with an electron capture detector (ECD). The samples were then reanalyzed on a second GC system equipped with a mass selective detector (MSD). GC-FID/ECD data were compared to the nominally correct GC-MSD data to determine the accuracy of the nonspecific detectors, which often do not differentiate the targeted compound from Interfering compounds. Qualitative accuracy (capability for correctly identifying compounds on the basis of retention time only) and quantitative accuracy (capability for correctly measuring the concentration of an identified compound on the basis of peak area) were evaluated. Data are presented on a per-compound basis to provide the combined typical results from air samples collected in three geographic regions: Kanawha Valley, WV; Los Angeles, CA, area; and Houston, TX.